In the Hole

The Democratic Party Convention in Denver is still in trouble. It hasn't met its financial targets, and is $10 million short.

The host committee is as much as $10 million short in fundraising, and financial difficulties have forced it to cancel two dozen parties for delegates. Denver officials are scrambling to deal with the logistical challenges of Barack Obama's acceptance speech being held at an outdoor stadium instead of in the arena where the rest of the convention will take place. Even special daisies that the city bred partly to show off for the convention are failing to sprout.

Criticism has been so harsh that this month the host committee felt compelled to issue a news release defending its much-mocked catering guidelines, which recommend organic produce and color-coordinated meals and discourage fried food.

"It's an embarrassment, particularly for the political class," said Floyd Ciruli, a former chairman of the state Democratic Party who is now an independent pollster unaffiliated with the convention effort. "At this point, everybody's thinking about the burdens rather than the benefits."

Local political leaders and the host committee insist everything is fine, and that any bumps along the way will be overshadowed by the attention showered on the city next month.

"That's a little bit of white noise around the perimeter," said Mayor John Hickenlooper. "Did we ever dream we'd have a candidate of this historic magnitude? Did we ever dream we'd have a candidate who'd make his acceptance speech in front of 80,000 people and have to turn away another 80,000?"

The Denver Mayor thinks everything will turn out okay, but he probably figures that the taxpayers will bail him out. After all, he was pushing for taxpayers to subsidize the DNC driving habits until that was outed at a City Council meeting.

The committee was short $10 million (25% of the total it expected), and now refuses to comment about the situation, which suggests that it is no better now than a month ago. Even with all the support Obama gets, it isn't translating into money for the convention.

The huge ego of Obama is causing serious headaches, and Hickenlooper thinks that this is okay. Obama, instead of giving his acceptance speech at the Pepsi Center arena, it will be given at Invesco Field, where Denver Broncos play football. It's an additional cost and nightmare for all those planning the event and covering it for the media.