WASHINGTON – John Kerry ducked questions yesterday about whether he’ll accept the Democratic nomination at the convention in Boston as he faced growing fallout over a possible delay in formally becoming the party’s standard-bearer.
Many Bostonians are fuming that Kerry is considering delaying his acceptance of the Democratic presidential nomination to late August – a month after the three-day convention in Boston – to give him a financial advantage against President Bush.
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, who is coordinating the convention, called on Kerry to accept the party’s nomination in Boston.
“Boston will be open for business,” Kerry told reporters aboard his campaign plane. “People will make a lot of money. We’re going to have a full-fledged convention, and people are going to have a fantastic time.”
The latest studies show that Boston is set to lose money on the Democratic National Convention, despite Menino’s efforts to make it a money-winner, and the traffic disruption will be worse than expected.
Kerry insisted, “No decision has been made, but it will be a full-fledged convention with all the excitement and everything. What’s important to me is that Boston is going to be open for business, people are sitting down, we’re working through these issues.”
If Kerry decides to postpone the acceptance of his nomination, network TV executives will have to decide whether the Boston ceremony still has the news value to warrant coverage – and the Federal Election Commission will be asked to decide what to do about the $14.6 million in federal money it awarded the Democrats for their “presidential nominating convention.”
Kerry said talk of anything being reduced during the convention was “silly.”
(p. 17 in metro)