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Convention Vexes Democrats

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The New York Times

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 6, 2008

For all Sen. Barack Obama's success raising money and generating excitement among voters, he faces a daunting challenge as he prepares to claim the nomination in August: a Democratic convention effort marred by costly setbacks and embarrassing delays.

With the Denver convention less than two months away, problems range from the serious - upwardly spiraling costs on key contracts still being negotiated - to the more mundane, like the reluctance of local caterers to participate because of stringent rules on what delegates will be eating, down to the color of the food. At last count, plans to renovate the inside of the Pepsi Center for the Democrats are $6 million over budget, which may force convention planners to scale back on their original design or increase their fundraising goals.

The convention is being organized by the Democratic National Committee, which is run by Howard Dean, with his chief of staff, the Rev. Leah D. Daughtry, leading the effort. Only in the last month has the Obama campaign been able to take over management of the convention planning with the candidate claiming the nomination, and his aides are increasingly frustrated, as the event nears, at organizers who they think spent too freely, planned too slowly and underestimated actual costs.

The Obama campaign has dispatched 10 people to Denver to help "get a handle on the budget and make hard decisions" about what has to be done and how to move forward, said Bill Burton, a campaign spokesman.

With Democrats seeking to use the convention to move past the bitterness of their bruising primary fight, the gathering in Denver on Aug. 25-29 is likely to draw intense interest as the Obama forces try to show a once-divided party rallying around the nominee. And their convention comes a week before the Minneapolis gathering of the Republicans, whose convention efforts have been much smoother.

Some of the Democratic missteps started almost immediately after planning for the event began. The Democratic National Campaign Committee turned down a chance to get cheap office space and decided to rent top-quality offices in downtown Denver at $100,000 a month, only to need less than half the space, which it then filled with rental furniture at $50,000 a month. And in a costly misstep, the Denver host committee, early on, told corporate donors that their contributions were not tax-deductible, rather than to encourage donations by saying the tax-exempt application was pending and expected to be approved.

For the Democratic Party, the danger is that a poorly run convention, or one that misses the mark financially, will reflect badly on the party, and raise questions about Democratic management skills. And more worrisome for the Obama campaign is that it will be left with the bill for cost overruns or fundraising shortfalls, and that the candidate will have to compete in raising money against a convention effort desperate for cash.

Natalie Wyeth, a spokeswoman for the Democratic National Convention Committee in Denver, said the convention "is on track and we are confident that we are where we are supposed to be at this point in the game." She added, "We are exactly where we intended to be at."

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