L.A. DRAWS KUDOS FROM SOJOURNING DNC MEMBERS; FEEDBACK HEARTENS CITY BOOSTERS.

Byline: Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writer

Los Angeles won high praise from Democratic National Committee members Wednesday for its bid to host the party convention in 2000 as their three-day tour closed with another hard sell.

At a breakfast at the Biltmore Hotel, where the 52 committee members stayed for free, they were reminded of the city's diversity, its union-and-labor peace and - yet again - California's 54 electoral votes.

``I think this was the best presentation we've seen by any city, including my own,'' said Ben Jeffers of New Orleans who is chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party.

Renee Walker of Detroit echoed Jeffers' sentiments.

``Los Angeles certainly showed they are capable and have the facilities,'' Walker said. ``It was a very impressive three days. And the fact California has 54 electoral votes isn't lost on anyone. It's very important.''

It was exactly the message Los Angeles officials and the LA2000 committee wanted to get across.

``I don't think we can stress it enough,'' said Bill Wardlaw, one of LA2000's co-chairmen who organized the three-day extravaganza.

Los Angeles is competing with Denver, Philadelphia, Boston, Minneapolis, New Orleans and Miami for the right to host the convention, expected to bring in some $137 million to the city.

There was no immediate estimate on the cost of this week's events, with most of the expenses - air fare, hotel rooms and meals - covered by contributions from various firms.

Throughout the trip, the delegates were wined, dined and feted as if they were royalty: from the Olvera Street welcoming ceremony to the reception hosted by actor Jimmy Smits at the Conga Room on Tuesday night where he danced with nearly all the female committee members.

In a demonstration of the city's technical capabilities, the committee members were shown a five-minute video - complete with musical scoring - that recapped their stay, including pictures taken at the Conga Room.

George Kirkland, head of the Los Angeles Convention Center, also reminded the committee members of the city's 93,000 hotel rooms - and the fact that each of the major downtown hotels are unionized. Democratic party events, by policy, can be held only in unionized facilities.

In addition to the Staples Center sports arena, the Convention Center will provide some 1 million square feet of space to accommodate the national media and all the state delegations, Kirkland said.

``There is no other city that can offer the amount of space and quality space that Los Angeles has.''