Philadelphia to host 2016 Democratic National Convention

When it came to the battle to host the 2016 Democratic National Convention, “the deck was stacked against New York from the start,” an insider told the Daily News.

A Democrat familiar with the discussions said Democratic National Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz felt “she could more easily control the convention” by awarding it to Philadelphia rather than New York, where Mayor de Blasio is trying to make a name for himself as a national leader on liberal issues.

 

The source also cited the chairwoman’s longstanding political ties to former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a major champion of the Philadelphia bid.

Another source familiar with the bid also raised the issue of Wasserman Schultz being leery of being upstaged by de Blasio, and said she seemed at times “dismissive” of New York’s pitch.

 

“Too bad we have to take the hit for her insecurities,” the source said.

Asked about such suggestions that Brooklyn had less than a fair shot, a spokeswoman for Wasserman Schultz pointed to her Thursday conference call with reporters about the decision.

“Let me make it very clear that the only three factors that we considered when deciding which was the strongest city to host our convention were logistics, security and resources,” Wasserman Schultz said. “Extraneous issues were not a factor whatsoever.”

The chairwoman said the finalist cities, which included Columbus, Ohio, all made strong offers, but Philadelphia’s package stood out for “the proximity of their arena and venues to the hotel rooms — you know, when it comes to putting on a convention, delegate experience was a very, very important thing for us.”

A disappointed de Blasio said during a City Hall news conference that a Brooklyn convention “would’ve sent a great message about what this country has historically been, and can be, and needs to be in the future.”

The mayor said he felt the city had more than fulfilled the DNC’s requirements on logistics.

“My sense is, we checked all those boxes, and I can’t figure out something that could have been done differently,” de Blasio said, “but you know, sometimes you play the game right, and another team still wins.”

De Blasio, who congratulated Philly on the win, also reiterated that he did not feel his own very public tensions with the NYPD had cast a shadow over the Brooklyn bid.

“I talked to countless people in Washington, as did the team, and it was not raised by a single person,” he said.

But a prominent Democratic official familiar with the convention discussions insisted de Blasio’s “mishandling of his relations with the police created an insurmountable obstacle” to winning the event.

Gov. Cuomo, who has mainly kept a low profile as the city’s politicians, business leaders, and labor unions threw themselves into promoting the bid and racking up financial support, called the defeat “a loss for New York.”