Mon May 14, 2012 at 10:52 AM PDT
Anti-Gay, Anti-Union, and the headquarters of Bank of America... what the hell is going on?
From the National Journal:
Democrats who already were queasy about the site of their national convention could be excused after Tuesday's election in North Carolina if they asked, "Tell me again just why we're going to Charlotte this year?" In fact, many Democrats privately are asking exactly that after the state's voters overwhelmingly approved a measure outlawing not just same-sex marriage -- which already was illegal in North Carolina -- but also any form of civil unions. Almost immediately after the vote, more than 20,000 people signed a "move the convention" petition being pushed by a New York group called Gay Marriage USA. And Twitter accounts lit up with hundreds of angry tweets demanding the party pull out of Charlotte... And, oh yes, there is the fact that President Obama will be accepting his nomination with a speech at the unfortunately named Bank of America Stadium, an occasion that will lead to a run of stories about the $45 billion that the banking powerhouse received in the unpopular TARP bailout. And there will be mentions of the bank's inclusion on the list of mortgage companies where staffers signed foreclosure documents without verifying the information on them.Please sign the petition.
North Carolina is no place for a convention.
Comments
Tip Jar (6+ / 0-)
It's exactly the place for the convention (20+ / 0-)
Fuck that "I'm taking my ball and going home" crap. That's for losers. When you want to change something you have to work on it, not run away and sulk.Work on what? They just passed the bill and (2+ / 0-)
a convention is a few days PR spectacle.
You think the politics of North Carolina are going to change? Get real.North Carolina just gave (13+ / 0-)
its electoral votes to a Democrat for the first time since before the Southern Realignment. Of course their politics can change.
Will the convention alone tip its ideological balance? No -- but that's obviously not the goal.You are reading my signature line. #hashtag[ Parent ]Exactly. (0+ / 0-)
it's not even worth it to click on a petition. There's nothing to petition. ALL conventions are planned well in advance; large ones years in advance. The only thing they could do at this point would be to cancel the convention entirely which would be a massive general-election liability in so many ways.Take the "Can't(or)" out of Congress. Support E. Wayne Powell in Va-07. http://www.ewaynepowell.com/[ Parent ]It's WAY too late to change. WAY too late. (12+ / 0-)
"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." --M. L. King "You can't fix stupid" --Ron White -6.00, -5.18Unfortunately, not doable. Sorry. (2+ / 0-)
"That the people have a right to bear arms for the defence of themselves and the State ..."- Vermont Constitution Chapter 1, Article 16There are progressives in NC too (14+ / 0-)
There are Obama supporters in NC too, he did win the state in 2008.Odds of winning in 2012 vs. having crap convention (1+ / 0-)
He only won by .7% taking the nomination in Bank of America stadium in an anti-gay, anti-union state. MehOk I am going to go (15+ / 0-)
Way out on a limb here and suggest you know absolutely nothing about what it takes to put on a convention. Things like how far in advance you have to block out hotels, reserve venues, deal with security issues. If you did you would realize how absurd the potion is you are asking people to sign.Republican Family Values: Using the daughters from your first wife to convince everybody that your second wife is lying about your third wife.It might take a "potion" to make people forget (0+ / 0-)
how horrible the state is on some rather key issues for the party and the election.
It's May, the convention is in September... it's not out of the question.I am going to blame iPad spelling (9+ / 0-)
And piss poor proofing skills.
Next it is completely out of the question. Who is going to refund the money to all the delegates who have already paid for transport? All the hotels that have been blocked out still have to be paid. The DNC has guarranteed so many heads in beds and they have to live uop to that number. I have put conventions together before and once you have decided where it is going to be and signed all the deals changing is impossible short of a act of God that makes it physically impossible to hold.Republican Family Values: Using the daughters from your first wife to convince everybody that your second wife is lying about your third wife.[ Parent ]You make a fair point which raises 2 other points (1+ / 0-)
1. WTF were the DNC thinking before, given the unions had already shown intense opposition and they knew it was Bank of America stadium (discarding the anti-gay amendment which happened later)
2. Cost-Benefit analysis is it worth it to change venues than have a very conflicting convention that, at the least, will not boost the moral of human rights advocates, labor and progressives concerned with wall street corruption and wealth inequality.There were three other cities in the mix (4+ / 0-)
St Louis, Cleveland, and Mpls. All union-friendly sites. But it is too late to change, given not only the rooms already booked in Charlotte but the need to get tens of thousands of rooms in New City.That's the real question (4+ / 0-)
WTF were the DNC thinking before, given the unions had already shown intense opposition and they knew it was Bank of America stadium (discarding the anti-gay amendment which happened later)
Unions have been very upset about this from the get-go, and some have apparently be withholding donations as a result. Methinks this was not well thought out.[ Parent ]Yeah, I don't get it. Especially with WI going hot (0+ / 0-)
Mystifying.
Also, you have to find a city (0+ / 0-)
with a convention hall and enough hotel rooms that have not already been booked. That will be almost impossible. People have to change their flights. You'd better hope this new city can handle all those rebooked flights. Obviously, many delegates will drop out at this point because many of the ones I know have scrimped and saved to pay for their flight and hotel and cannot handle the hit of cancellation penalties and booking at a probably higher cost.
You also have to start interviewing and hiring an entire new on-the-ground support staff and tell all those servers and janitors in Charlotte that they're out of work and tough luck if you rescheduled another job to be available then.Take the "Can't(or)" out of Congress. Support E. Wayne Powell in Va-07. http://www.ewaynepowell.com/[ Parent ]Even an act of terror (1+ / 0-)
wasn't enough to cancel a convention in 2001; the Seybold convention went on in SF even though many of the attendees and exhibitors weren't able to make it because of flight limitations post-9/11. Would have cost the organizers more money to cancel it than to let it go forward with reduced attendance solely because of the guarantees to hotels and convention space.
I thought holding the convention in NC was a bad idea anyway, but the DNC can recoup by giving the GLBT members of the Democratic Party prime spots on the convention floor and agenda.Mitt Romney: the Etch-A-Sketch candidate in the era of YouTube[ Parent ]
jsfox was right. You don't know (0+ / 0-)
what it takes to put on a convention. If this were a very small meeting-style convention, you MIGHT, with luck and at some cost, be able to relocate it. May might as well be the day before to a convention in September. Something of this magnitude requires usually requires nearly two years. They announced at the beginning of 2011. Moving it now is impossible.Take the "Can't(or)" out of Congress. Support E. Wayne Powell in Va-07. http://www.ewaynepowell.com/[ Parent ]
This isn't the 1800s, they have months (1+ / 0-)
to make these changes in the age of air travel and the internet. This isn't amazingly difficult.
I'm sure many venues would be happy to host it.With these numbers? (7+ / 0-)
DNCC press release:
The DNCC began securing rooms in local hotels in spring of 2011, shortly after Charlotte was selected to host the convention. The DNCC has contracted more than 15,000 rooms in 150 hotels. 6,700 rooms in 56 hotels will be used for delegations. While delegates will stay in the five zones, the DNCC has contracted rooms from Rock Hill to Salisbury for other guests.
Do they have enough money... (4+ / 0-)
...to not only pay for all the nonrefundable deposits and such for all the hotel rooms, convention spaces, etc. being rented out by the DNC itself, but also for all those spaces that have been reserved and deposited upon by the many, many other organizations that have a presence and/or an event at the Democratic National Convention—when progressive groups aren't exactly known for being bursting at the seams with cash?
And then enough money to pay to reserve and rent out all those spaces in another city, with three months' notice?
I think you underestimate the magnitude—and the cost—of the changes that would be required here."When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist." --Dom Helder Camara, archbishop of Recife[ Parent ]They may be "happy" (0+ / 0-)
but they're not able. If they have other conferences booked and hotel roomed reserved, they cannot simply throw those people out. To reserve that kind of space requires well over a year. It has nothing to do with the internet. And if you've been in the air travel system lately, you know that it has made it harder not easier to make quick changes. It's not difficult, you're right — it's impossible.Take the "Can't(or)" out of Congress. Support E. Wayne Powell in Va-07. http://www.ewaynepowell.com/[ Parent ]But again, you have the logistics (0+ / 0-)
on the ground to take into account -- plus in the age of air travel, you also have cancellation and change fees. How many people can afford to pay for those out of pocket if they're delegates? And if the local party committees try to pick up part or all of the cost, that means less money to put into Senate and House races which are going to be crucial if we're going to regain control of Congress so Obama isn't roadblocked.
It's more difficult than you think, especially for something that requires a lot of security -- do you really want the President and Vice President to go into an area without adequate security? Even moving a smaller convention such as Netroots Nation is a major effort; I remember the discussions when a previous NN was relocated from Providence to another city (Pittsburgh?) when there was problems with a union contract.
Look, I'd love to be able to tell NC to shove it for telling my GLBT brothers and sisters that they're left at the altar...but at this late date, it ain't gonna happen no matter how many signatures you get on a petition.Mitt Romney: the Etch-A-Sketch candidate in the era of YouTube[ Parent ]We didn't book-and-relocate, though. (0+ / 0-)
We were prepared to book Providence for 2011 if they had resolved their union situation at the Hyatt in time; they didn't, so at the 2010 convention we announced Minneapolis instead. Once that situation was resolved, we were delighted to book Providence for this year.
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