The pitch is on!
Democratic officials from Philadelphia will be meeting with the Democratic Convention Committee on Thursday to convince organizers of the 2016 convention that the country’s fifth largest city is the best candidate to host the party.
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Former Governor Ed Rendell and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, among others, are heading up the effort, according to multiple media reports.
Rendell told NBC 10 he gets behind efforts like bringing the convention to town because of his love for the city.
"Now I understand the five contenders are Birmingham, Alabama, Phoenix, Arizona, Columbus Ohio, Brooklyn, New York, and Philadelphia," said Rendell. "And they are all great cities, and we don't want to disparage any of them, but we believe we are the best." Nutter told reporters on Friday that the city is raising about $1 million for the first part of the competition with other cities. Philadelphia staged the 2000 Republican National Convention to good reviews and has hosted conventions previous to 2000. "Obviously, we are going to show them a really really good time, but they want to know about logistics," Nutter said, according to an NBC10.com story. "They want to know about buses, about how you get to the venue, and how walkable and how easy it is to get around Philadelphia - and the historic things that are here you can't see anywhere else." City officials will have to raise between 60 and 70 million dollars to stage the event, they said.
