Dems Pressing Local Donors To Help Bring 2016 Political Convention to Philadelphia
By Kim Glovas
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Pennsylvania Democratic party leadership met today at Philadelphia City Hall with some area residents with deep pockets. The goal: to raise enough money to host the Democratic National Convention here in 2016.
Former governor Ed Rendell says he's confident that the city and local donors can raise the $84 million needed to host the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
And he says a very detailed package has already been submitted to the DNC, and the DNC's site selection committee visited Philadelphia a couple of months ago.
"We showed them the ballroom in the expanded convention center, which is the largest convention center in the eastern part of the country right now, and, at a stand-up cocktail hour can take close to 20,000 people, so we could have a welcoming party for every single delegate," Rendell said.
He added that the recent election of Tom Wolf in 2014, which was not a good election year for Dems in general, may help Philadelphia's cause.
"They were very impressed that we elected a Democratic governor in a very tough year, particularly by ten points, so there's a lot of things going in our favor," Rendell noted.
Governor-elect Tom Wolf says the meeting was actually about getting the financing for the convention going.
"This is really a big deal. We can do things well, this is mechanics we gotta get this right, but if we do all those things, we're gonna show off Pennsylvania and Philadelphia to the rest of the world."
The DNC is expected to choose by mid-January from among Philadelphia, New York City, and Columbus, Ohio.