And then there were three:

Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz today announced the finalist cities under consideration to host the 2016 Democratic National Convention: Columbus, New York, and Philadelphia. The announcement comes after a round of site visits by the DNC’s Technical Advisory Group to five cities.

“We’re thrilled to move to the next step of the selection process to determine where Democrats will come together to nominate the 45th President of the United States,” said Wasserman Schultz. “We are fortunate to have such a diverse and vibrant group of cities interested in hosting this special event and we thank Phoenix and Birmingham for showcasing their special communities. We look forward to working with Columbus, New York, and Philadelphia as we go forward.” Continue Reading...

Birmingham remains on the Democrats’ official list of possible convention sites. But given the realities of presidential politics and the perceived limits of a city of 212,000, almost no one is expecting it to beat out the other finalists: Columbus, Ohio; Philadelphia; Phoenix; and New York City.
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Yet for all of the gentle skepticism and outright mockery, supporters of the bid are adamant that the competition does not have a foregone conclusion. At minimum, Birmingham backers say, this city’s place in the national convention conversation has given it an injection of confidence. “The fact that we’ve had a unified effort and the community has challenged itself and tested itself to think big about something like this, it’s a better community for having gone through the process,” said Brian Hilson, the president of the Birmingham Business Alliance. –NY Times

Markos Moulitsas recently announced that Daily Kos will not take part in Netroots Nation 2015 which will take place in Phoenix. He expands his call for Democrats to stay away from the city.

And then there’s Phoenix, and unless Democrats want to stir up the same raw emotions and divisiveness that Netroots Nation did with their choice for that locale, it should be avoided like the plague.

With the exception of Birmingham, which is an odd addition to the list, the other four cities would unite our party and allow us to focus on the task at hand—retaining the White House, expanding our Senate majority and taking back the House. Let’s focus on the places that unite us, not consider places that divide. Continue Reading...

The site selection team for the 2016 Democratic National Convention comes to Birmingham today for a two-day visit to the Magic City.

Birmingham is the first of the remaining five finalist cities that will receive a visit from the team, which will be evaluating the city’s capability of hosting the massive convention.

The committee’s visit agenda has not been disclosed, but there is a public pitch party scheduled for Monday night at Iron City and reportedly a private event at Regions Field. The Birmingham City Council approved $14,000 in spending for the site visit. Signage about the DNC has been added in key locations around the city. – Birmingham Business Journal

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First they get a basketball team, now they want a convention?

The de Blasio administration on Friday proposed that when the Democratic Party gathers to crown its next presidential nominee, it do so in the mayor’s home borough, a cradle of the resurgent left that has morphed from a symbol of the working class into a gritty, global arbiter of cool.

In a 200-page formal bid, New York City offers up the Barclays Center, the rust-glazed sports and entertainment arena near Brooklyn’s bustling downtown, as the anchor venue for the quadrennial gathering, with accommodations and other events to be spread across the city’s four other boroughs. Continue Reading...