Rendell To Help In Bid To Bring 2016 DNC To Philadelphia
By Tim Jimenez
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell says he will be among those from the area meeting with the Democratic National Committee on Monday as part of the process to bring the party's 2016 convention to Philadelphia.
In what he calls the first of many sessions, Rendell says they'll be presenting to the DNC. "We've got to win the bid," he says. "There are five other cities competing. I think Columbus, Ohio and Brooklyn, New York are probably our two stiffest competitors."
Birmingham, Cleveland and Phoenix are the other finalists.
Rendell is chairman of Philadelphia 2016, a non-profit set up to raise the tens and millions of dollars needed to host the event. And as Rendell looks to the future, he says the city's biggest edge is the past.
"I think the fact that we did such a great job with the 2000 Republican convention - the media says, unabashedly that was the best convention in the last 20 years. That will hold us in good stead," Rendell says. "We've been there, we've done that and we've shown that we can run a major event like a convention."
A final decision is expected later this year or early 2015.