Can the Lion Tame the DNC?

We here at Boston Daily are excited for the 2008 Democratic National Convention because the event will take place in Denver, and not in our backyard as it did four years ago. So, we’ll be able to get to work without getting a cavity search on the T.

Perhaps the thing we’re looking forward to most is the idea that Ted Kennedy could give a speech that will rival the oratorical genius he displayed at the 1980 DNC.

But it seems Democrats have some issues to sort out before the convention even gets underway. Yesterday, the New York Times reported the DNC is running behind schedule and over budget.

Right off the bat, the DNC opted for posh office space that costs $100,000 per month, only to find it only needed half the space. There was a confusing press release that may have made fundraising for the event more difficult.

Then there’s the issue of the food.

A 28-page contract requested by Denver organizers that caterers provide food in “at least three of the following five colors: red, green, yellow, blue/purple and white.” Garnishes could not be counted toward the colors. No fried foods would be allowed. Organic and locally grown foods were mandated, and each plate had to be 50 percent fruits and vegetables.

This is why the red states despise Democrats.

If anything calls for the Kennedy touch, this is it. Perhaps Ted can get on the horn from Hyannis Port to explain to Howard Dean that American politics have worked for 200-something years without organic green snacks. Maybe tell him that FDR crafted the New Deal while subsisting on cigars and whiskey, and that Bill Clinton did his best work while scarfing down McDonald’s fries.

He can remind Dean that the real estate market still sucks, that gas creeps ever-closer to $5 a gallon, and that the majority of Americans are more likely to be fretting over whether they still their job in six months than about the color palette of their food.

Then he could sign off with “the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die,” because that line is awesome.