By Thomas B. Edsall
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 29, 2002; Page A05

Democratic Party leaders yesterday were backing away from a proposal to hold their 2004 presidential nominating convention at the same time as the Republican convention, but they still struggled to select a date that could help them solve money and message concerns.

The Democratic National Committee said last week it might abandon a tentative July 19-22 convention date in favor of going head-to-head with the Republicans, who announced a relatively late convention date of Aug. 30-Sept. 2, 2004. Some top Democrats yesterday were discussing a convention start of July 26 or Aug. 2, but no decision was made.

Barring an unforeseen development, Republicans will renominate President Bush on Sept. 2, allowing him and his allies to bask in the political spotlight going into Labor Day -- the traditional start of campaigns -- and to remain there through Sept. 11, 2004, the third anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon.

Democrats could schedule their convention a bit before the GOP event, but there is another problem: The Summer Olympic Games will be held in Athens from Aug. 13 to Aug. 29, ending the day before the GOP convention opens. Democratic activists fear they will draw small TV audiences if they compete with the Olympics. But a pre-Olympics convention, they say, would give voters plenty of time to forget the event's high points before autumn.

"We are looking at a situation where we would be old news with our nomination in mid-July, followed by the August Olympics, and they [Republicans] would be on center stage for 11 or 12 straight days -- from the end of August through at least September 11," one Democratic strategist said.

The convention dates also pose a financial dilemma for Democrats. Bush is expected to forgo public financing during the primary season, as he did in 2000, because he is able to raise much more money from private donors than he would receive from public coffers. The longer he waits for his formal renomination, the longer he can take advantage of this fundraising edge over Democratic candidates, who are expected to rely on public financing in the primaries.

Because Democrats expect a crowded and expensive primary, the eventual nominee may be left with little or no cash from late March until the nominating convention. Bush, meanwhile, probably will be able to spend freely during that time.

When Democratic operatives met recently to discuss convention strategy, the idea of going the same week as the Republicans received little support.

"It was a cool idea, going mano-a-mano, but in the end they could screw us," said one Democratic strategist, who suggested that top Bush administration officials could dominate TV coverage by giving nightly speeches on newsworthy subjects.

Another strategist said: "We are the ones who are going to have to get the public to learn about our candidate. We can't afford to risk the coverage [being tilted to Republicans]."

Some Democrats, meanwhile, suggest a more radical step: defying tradition, which calls for the president's party to hold the later convention, and conducting the Democratic gathering during Labor Day week, starting Sept. 6.

"We have to think outside the box," one Democratic official said.