MtnBiker
Senior Member
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., speaks to reporters aboard his campaign plane, Monday, in Bedford, Mass. (AP)
BOSTON - Already facing an array of disruptions to traffic and transit patterns during July's Democratic National Convention, angry Bostonians lashed out Monday after learning that the four-day event might not even yield a nominee.
John Kerry's campaign has said the Massachusetts senator might delay the nomination in order to gain equal financial footing with President Bush. But the suggestion, coming on the heels of convention organizers' release of a detailed list of road and mass transit closures, has only inflamed the ire of city officials and business owners.
"It's one thing to hold the neighborhood hostage because of a political convention," said Robert Torabgar, manager of Hilton's Tent City, a sporting goods store in the shadow of the FleetCenter, the convention site. "But to have the neighborhood closed just because of a political rally is a little harder to take."
While the neighborhood's many bars and restaurants expect to prosper, other businesses near the FleetCenter were already considering closing down for the week, even before Kerry's Friday announcement.
Commuters, who face shuttle buses and traffic jams, said a convention without a nomination would just add insult to injury.
"Why are they going through all this disruption if it's going to be a non-event?" asked Robert Carlin, 49, of Leominster, who will be forced to find alternative transportation when North Station closes for convention week. "It will inconvenience thousands of people for nothing."
Even Boston's mayor, Democrat Thomas Menino, who has remained the convention's biggest cheerleader despite escalating concerns over the logistics, vented his frustration this weekend, saying the campaign failed to inform him of the possible strategy.
Rather than delay the nomination, Menino said Kerry should seek to change the federal finance laws, which limits the candidates to $75 million in public funding after they are nominated.
On Monday, Menino sounded a more conciliatory note, saying that such an unprecedented procedure could actually draw more visitors and media to Boston - not less, as some had feared.
"It's a disappointment," Menino said. "But we'll do the platform piece of the convention. We'll go through all the regular procedures. The convention will go on."
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BOSTON - Already facing an array of disruptions to traffic and transit patterns during July's Democratic National Convention, angry Bostonians lashed out Monday after learning that the four-day event might not even yield a nominee.
John Kerry's campaign has said the Massachusetts senator might delay the nomination in order to gain equal financial footing with President Bush. But the suggestion, coming on the heels of convention organizers' release of a detailed list of road and mass transit closures, has only inflamed the ire of city officials and business owners.
"It's one thing to hold the neighborhood hostage because of a political convention," said Robert Torabgar, manager of Hilton's Tent City, a sporting goods store in the shadow of the FleetCenter, the convention site. "But to have the neighborhood closed just because of a political rally is a little harder to take."
While the neighborhood's many bars and restaurants expect to prosper, other businesses near the FleetCenter were already considering closing down for the week, even before Kerry's Friday announcement.
Commuters, who face shuttle buses and traffic jams, said a convention without a nomination would just add insult to injury.
"Why are they going through all this disruption if it's going to be a non-event?" asked Robert Carlin, 49, of Leominster, who will be forced to find alternative transportation when North Station closes for convention week. "It will inconvenience thousands of people for nothing."
Even Boston's mayor, Democrat Thomas Menino, who has remained the convention's biggest cheerleader despite escalating concerns over the logistics, vented his frustration this weekend, saying the campaign failed to inform him of the possible strategy.
Rather than delay the nomination, Menino said Kerry should seek to change the federal finance laws, which limits the candidates to $75 million in public funding after they are nominated.
On Monday, Menino sounded a more conciliatory note, saying that such an unprecedented procedure could actually draw more visitors and media to Boston - not less, as some had feared.
"It's a disappointment," Menino said. "But we'll do the platform piece of the convention. We'll go through all the regular procedures. The convention will go on."
Full Story
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