Let’s roll up our sleeves and land Democratic Convention

Columbus is a great American city. Our job market and financial stability are the envy of much of the nation. Our growth, prosperity and quality of life are testimony to our success.

That success, however, is the product of continued striving toward greater goals. Now is the time to start planning, organizing and working on the next series of bold goals, and one of these is to host a national political convention.

Every four years, Columbus sits as a critical mark on the road to the White House. We need to leverage this opportunity.

Too much of the world hasn’t experienced the city we love. It is time that we show them our creativity, hustle and tenacity. Allies at Franklin County, the Columbus Partnership, Experience Columbus and the Greater Columbus Arts Council are working with us to help tell the story. We can’t be satisfied with slow-grow progress. Our success depends on energetic, bold advances when opportunities arise.

Fighting for a national political convention enables us to challenge ourselves, to compete head-to-head with the nation's premier cities. The benefits are huge: weeks of news coverage from 15,000 members of the international press, $200 million in direct economic impact from the spending by 40,000 visitors and legacy projects that help build our infrastructure and lure additional business in the future.

Events like a political convention or a Super Bowl or an Olympics don’t happen by accident. These worldclass events choose cities that will work the hardest to be the best hosts.

In that game, Columbus has many advantages. Being welcoming hosts is in our DNA, and we’ve invested in a great hospitality infrastructure with new or renewed parks, hotels, arenas and meeting space.

We may begin the process as an underdog, but we must step up to the challenge. The bid process lets us work with the world’s best event planners to put on the world’s best convention. We have what it takes to host the 40,000 visitors, to move them around safely without being trapped on buses for hours and to make it fun.

Republicans or Democrats would do well to look to Ohio’s electoral power, Franklin County’s growth and swing-state influence, and the message our smart, open community sends as a potential host city. We know that regardless of what city they go to, their nominees will be on their way to Columbus to talk to our voters before and after the convention. Columbus is the center of the political universe every four years, and we have earned a shot at a bigger legacy.

What I’ve learned about hockey is that in order to win the game, you’ve got to shoot the puck, not just skate the ice. We will win some, and we will lose some, so let’s shoot the puck.

The process of pursuing the world’s biggest conventions is good for Columbus and makes us stronger. Let us leverage our advantages, be bold and break any ceilings, real or perceived, that stand in our way. MAYOR MICHAEL B. COLEMAN Columbus