It would be great for Nashville to host either the Democratic or Republican Convention in the future, but only if private parties are footing the bill.

“I can’t think of anything that pushes a city up in the world of conventions more than a political convention,” [Former Deputy Mayor Bill] Phillips said. “But you’re talking about two years of commitment. It is a huge burden on the local people to go out and raise that money. A community needs to think carefully about that.”

[Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau CEO Butch] Spyridon said there will be no full-court press to land one of the conventions here any time soon. The Belmont debate, he said, “gives us almost equal exposure for a significantly lower price tag. We’ll have a more focused national and international press.”

With our schools in dire need of improvement, the hotel-motel tax about to increase and the city budget stretched awfully thin, this isn’t the right time for Nashville to take on another big-ticket item, even one that would promise huge positive attention. I think this idea should wait, unless private citizens are willing to step up to fund it.