Dems Pick Philly for 2016 Convo

Politico:
Philadelphia has been chosen as the host city of the 2016 Democratic National Convention, party officials announced Thursday.

The decision is a huge disappointment for New York City, where Mayor Bill de Blasio had made a major effort to land the convention for Brooklyn. The city had put together a rich financial package to lure the Democratic National Committee.

The Democrats’ other finalist city was Columbus, Ohio.

The convention will be held in the Wells Fargo Center, home of the Philadelphia Flyers and 76ers. The same building, then called the First Union Center, hosted the GOP convention in 2000.

A Democratic official familiar with the decision said the choice was “a close call among the three,” and came down almost entirely to logistics. A factor that hurt both Brooklyn and Columbus was the huge security perimeter of a modern convention, which requires surrounding blocks to be fenced off well ahead of the convention.