Draft:Logistics of the 2004 Democratic National Convention
| 2004 Democratic National Convention | |
.jpg) FleetCenter during a convention speech by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino | |
| City | Boston, Massachusetts |
|---|---|
| Convention hall | FleetCenter |
| Convention hall capacity | 20,000+ |
| Convention hall type | arena |
| Held before or after RNC? | before |
| NSSE designation? | yes |
2004 DNC logistics
https://p2004.org/demconv04/dconvmain04.html
Site selection
[edit]
| City | Status of bid | Venue | Financial package pledged by city |
Previous major party conventions hosted by city |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston, Massachusetts | Winner | FleetCenter | $49.5 million[1] | — |
| Detroit, Michigan | Finalist | Ford Field, Joe Louis Arena, Cobo Hall[2][3] | $50 million[1] | Republican: 1980 |
| Miami, Florida | Finalist | American Airlines Arena, Coconut Grove Convention Center, and Miami Beach Convention Center[4] | $40 million[1] | Democratic: 1972 Republican: 1968, 1972 |
| New York City, New York | Finalist | Madison Square Garden[5] | $72 million[1] | Democratic: 1868, 1924, 1976, 1980, 1992 |
| Baltimore, Maryland | Non-finalist | Potentially Oriole Park at Camden Yards[3] | Democratic: 1832, 1835, 1840, 1844, 1848, 1852, 1860, 1872, 1912 Republican: 1864 Whig: 1844, 1852, 1856 |
After an initial notice to 34 cities, 10 cities requested the RFP to host the convention: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Miami, New York City and Pittsburgh. Of those, Baltimore, Boston, Detroit, Miami and New York City submitted bids.[6] Baltimore's bid was considered a long-shot. The city lacked a conventional venue with enough space to accommodate the convention, and was proposing the prospect of erecting a temporary canopy at Oriole Park at Camden Yards (which would have likely necessitated the baseball team tenant to vacate the venue for a roughly two-month period of their season).[3] Baltimore was eliminated. Boston, Detroit, Miami and New York City were selected as the finalist cities.[1][6] Each of the finalist cities received visits from members of the Democratic National Committee during the site selection process.[6] Boston was announced as the host of the convention on November 13, 2002.[6]
The 2004 Democratic National Convention was the first major party presidential nominating convention to held in Boston. With John Kerry arising as the winner of the primaries, it ultimately was one of the few presidential nominating conventions that was held in the home state of the party's nominee.[7]
As a result of the selection of Boston, organizers of the Reebok Pro Summer League developmental basketball program had to fold the league into the upstart Las Vegas Summer League due to a lack of lodging in the Boston area.[8]
Until Chicago, Illinois was selected as the host of the 2024 Democratic National Convention, 2004 was the last time for either major party that they chose to hold their convention in a state that was not considered to be a swing state (the Republicans held their 2004 convention in New York City).[9][10]
Chicago declined to bid https://p2004.org/convs/chiout.html
After consideration, Pittsburgh declined to bid https://p2004.org/convs/pittout.html
Atlanta ruled out bids for either major party convention https://p2004.org/convs/atlout.html as did Houston https://p2004.org/convs/houstout.html and Dallas https://p2004.org/convs/dallasout.html
https://p2004.org/convs/dsiteselect.html
Boston bid
[edit]https://p2004.org/convs/boston04.html
Detroit bid
[edit]https://p2004.org/convs/detroit04.html
Miami bid
[edit]https://p2004.org/convs/miami04.html
New York City bid
[edit]https://p2004.org/convs/nyc04.html
Host committee
[edit]Preparations for FleetCenter to serve as the convention hall
[edit]Security
[edit].jpg)
During the convention, U.S. Capitol Police, the U.S. Coast Guard, and other governmental organizations took many security measures to protect the participants of the Democratic National Convention.[11] Security measures included bomb-sniffing dogs, 7-feet high metal barricades, a ban on corporate and private flights at Logan International Airport, along with the temporary closure of Interstate 93.[11]
Some Bostonians took advantage of the meeting as a national stage for specific agendas.[12] The police union, for example, gained attention with threats of picketing of delegates from entering and exiting functions – a dilemma for Democrats as the party has traditionally been an ally of organized labor. Having worked without a contract for two years, the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association struck a deal with Boston mayor Thomas Menino for a new contract, avoiding a major embarrassment for the party.[12]
Handling of protesters
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Collins, Dan (November 19, 2002). "Dems Pick Boston For 2004 Convention". CBS News.
- ^ "Conventions-2004 Site Selection". p2004.org. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
- ^ a b c Johnson, Glen (April 25, 2002). "Hub, 4 rivals buff their Democratic party ware". Newspapers.com. The Boston Globe. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
- ^ "Miami makes pitch to host party convention". Newspapers.com. Florida Today. Associated Press. July 17, 2002. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
- ^ "Conventions-2004 Site Selection". p2004.org. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
- ^ a b c d "Site Selection 2004". GWU. Retrieved January 13, 2009.
- ^ Webb, Cynthia L. (July 26, 2004). "Democrats Get Wired in Boston". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 28, 2011. Retrieved May 15, 2007.
- ^ Christovich, Amanda (July 19, 2018). "How NBA's inaugural Vegas Summer League was kick-started by the Democratic National Convention". USA Today. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
- ^ Petre, Linda (January 11, 2022). "Search for 2024 convention sites ramps up in both parties". The Hill. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
- ^ "Dems select Chicago for 2024 convention". PBS NewsHour. 11 April 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
- ^ a b "Security details: dogs, guns, choppers – politics". NBC News. July 25, 2004. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
- ^ a b Greenhouse, Steven (June 30, 2004). "Democrats Fear Boston Police Union May Picket During Party Convention". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 5, 2018.