Democrats are on the clock, racing to adjust to a wide range of logistical changes following their candidate’s decision to accept the nomination in a new location.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC), the convention host committee and the Barack Obama campaign all acknowledged that there is a new set of questions without answers now that Obama will make his speech at Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium instead of inside the Pepsi Center in Denver.

New questions range from additional costs to security issues to media accommodations to what role the traditional balloon-drop will play in a building that has no ceiling.

Howard Dean, chairman of the DNC, declined to get into specific logistical questions with reporters Monday, but he did concede that after the Obama campaign told the DNC and the host committee last week that it wanted to make the change, there are several new issues to tackle.

“Are there some last-minute changes? Yes. Are all conventions smooth? No, none of them ever are,” Dean said on a conference call. He added: “Obviously, we don’t have all the questions answered.”

Dean said security for the country’s first black presidential nominee was a consideration, and he has spoken with Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper (D) and the two agreed that security concerns can be assuaged.

Ed Donovan, a Secret Service spokesman, said the stadium is not currently in the security perimeter the service had established for the Pepsi Center, and “a new plan will be created.”

Donovan noted that the Secret Service has successfully handled security for comparable venues with high-profile officials, including the president and the pope.

“It’s not a problem,” Donovan said. “Last-minute changes are not a new experience for the Secret Service.”

Two Democrats who worked on the 2004 convention in Boston, speaking on background, said they would view such a change less than two months out as “logistically challenging.”

“That would be difficult,” one said. “Not undoable, but difficult.”

The other 2004 Democratic convention worker said that conventions are “always controlled chaos.”
The change raised eyebrows with the media for a couple of reasons.

To begin with, it was reported last month that the host committee had fallen well short — about $12 million — of its financial goals for the convention.

Obama aide Anita Dunn said Monday that the Obama campaign will be helping the convention.

“We’re working as a team here,” Dunn said.

The other question for news organizations was what the change in venue would mean for the costs and logistics of covering such an event in a different arena.