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Atlanta, Houston and New Orleans probably have an inside track because the party would like to renew its old ties with the South. Atlanta pitched itself as the birthplace of the "New South," mixing a ride on the city's modern subway with mint juleps, barbecue and country music in an antebellum mansion at Stone Mountain. Atlanta turned Native Son Jimmy Carter, not the most popular figure in the Democratic Party, into an asset. The highlight of the trip turned out to be a VIP tour of the Carter Presidential Center, after which the former President treated the committee to a quiche-and-grits brunch.

Nouveau-poor Houston had to persuade wary committee members that it still has plenty of money. Although its new convention hall is not yet completed, Developer Joe Russo offered to take out a $5 million policy with Lloyd's of London payable to the D.N.C. if the hall is not finished on time. The city also promised to arrange a Leonard Bernstein benefit concert for the convention, but members seemed just as impressed with another cultural landmark -- they kept buses and motorcades waiting half an hour while they shopped at Neiman-Marcus.

Kansas City boosters countered the cosmopolitan claims of the competition by stressing the advantages of the more tranquil Midwest. Over cocktails at a Mission Hills mansion, Mark Russell, a Kansas City developer, genially assured Democrats, "We don't have race riots here, we don't have crazies, and all our cabdrivers speak English."

The longest shots are Washington and New York City. Mayor Marion Barry's argument that the party and the press could save $9 million by staying home in the nation's capital left most people cold. New York was host to both the 1976 and 1980 conventions, but boasts experience and last summer's Liberty Weekend as proof that it is possible for visitors to get through four days in Gotham without getting insulted, mugged or worse.

New Orleans had been an early favorite. It has a wealth of new hotels stretching from the Superdome to the French Quarter, a redeveloped riverfront, and is seen by many as the best place to party. But its request for a delay may have hurt its chances. "If they can't get it together for one lousy little weekend," complained one committee member, "how are they going to pull off a convention?" The rival cities couldn't have been more pleased.