Representatives of the five networks hosted a conference call Monday afternoon to discuss the change in plans. A senior DNC official and a “not hugely high-ranking” Obama campaign official joined the conversation for the first few minutes before exiting the call to allow the networks to continue their discussions.
According to a cable news executive on the call, the big question revolved around how the networks would handle pool coverage of the speech. No final decisions were made.
“I think we’re all trying to figure out what this means for our broadcast plans,” the source said.
One of the Democrats who worked the convention in 2004 said the new venue and super-sized crowd could help draw viewers because the conventions “needed a little shot of life anyway.”
“I think this is something everybody will watch,” the Democrat said.
The announcement came the day before Tuesday’s media walk-through. The walk-through had been scheduled to take place last month.
Natalie Wyeth, a spokeswoman for the convention committee, said the committee has been in discussions with news organizations over the last few days and is working to accommodate them like it was before.
Wyeth said the people handling the logistics on the ground are “starting to work through a lot of the nuts and bolts.”
“We wouldn’t commit to the change in venue if we didn’t think we could pull it off successfully,” Wyeth said.
Nick Shapiro, an Obama spokesman, said there’s “a lot of hard work to be done” to get the convention ready, but he said he hadn’t heard from any news organizations that are unhappy about the move.
“I haven’t heard of anybody who’s angry,” Shapiro said. “Everybody seems really, really excited.”
As for those balloons, Shapiro said the campaign’s “not sure about that one yet,” but is anticipating a memorable experience.
Speaking in front of 75,000 on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech would likely be difficult for Republican candidate Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) to match, at least theatrically, just one week later at the Republican Convention.
But Matt Burns, a spokesman for the Republican Convention, dismissed the change as nothing more than “stagecraft and theatrics.”
“A change of venue for a speech isn’t the kind of change the American people deserve or expect — and that’s why we’re confident the next president of the United States will be nominated at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, [Minn.,]” Burns said in a statement.
The Obama campaign, however, argued throughout the day that the bigger venue was reflective of Obama’s goal of including more voters in the process.
“In keeping with that commitment to inclusion, Barack Obama will accept the Democratic nomination at Denver’s Invesco Field — where more than 75,000 people will be able to attend,” read the campaign’s internal talking points on the matter. “At this critical moment, we want to make sure that as many people as possible are engaged — and ready to change the country.”
Emily Goodin contributed to this article.
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