Convention decision is just the beginning

By Joe Schoenmann (contact)

Saturday, Jan. 13, 2007 | 7:10 a.m.

The decision by Democrats this week to hold their 2008 presidential nominating convention in Denver rather than New York was made with a strong push from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and a law firm with ties to Las Vegas.

"When Harry Reid says he wants the convention to be in Denver, I believe Howard Dean listens to Harry Reid," said Denver attorney Steve Farber, co-chairman of the 2008 Denver Host Committee.

Farber also played a leading role. His law firm, Brownstein Hyatt Farber & Schreck, includes longtime Las Vegas lawyer Frank Schreck. The firm, headquartered in Denver, opened an office in Las Vegas on Jan. 1.

While the economic impact on Denver will be enormous - the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston brought $160 million into that city's economy - the bottom line wasn't the only consideration.

Democrats wanted a Western state for several reasons, including the party's strategy of wresting control of the White House by persuading voters in the Intermountain West to abandon their customary support of Republican presidential candidates.

The three Pacific Coast states already lean Democratic. If just a few Intermountain West states jumped the aisle, the Democrats could gain a majority of electoral college votes in 2008.

So for the first time since 1908, a Democratic convention will be held in a Western state other than California.

That Western strategy also played a part in the Democrats' decision to move the Nevada caucuses up to the second spot in the presidential primary season. Nevada's Western sensibilities along with Las Vegas' diverse population and its strong union presence will force Democratic candidates to address issues they would not face in the largely white and rural states of Iowa and New Hampshire, traditionally the first two states on the primary calendar.

Many Democrats believe Nevada's issues are important to a wider spectrum of voters nationwide.

"Really, things that make sense in Nevada make sense in the entire country," says Jon Summers, Reid's communications director.

"Nevadans and Westerners in general are very pragmatic, they don't look at things along partisan lines, they look at things that affect their daily lives and matter to their families," Summers said.

As Farber noted, "If Al Gore and John Kerry had won the key states out here, today we'd already have that Democratic president.

"If the Democrats want to win a national election and have a president in the White House, then they have to start coming out West," said Farber, a member of the committee that tapped Los Angeles to host the 2000 Democratic National Convention.

As for the choice of Denver, money also helped. Farber raised $23 million from Colorado donors, which helped sway the Democratic National Committee. Donors anted up, Farber said, "and probably 90 percent of the business community here is Republican."

"It's a great place to hold a convention," Farber says, "because it's the New West, it's the ideals of the Democratic Party."