Obama DNC speech moved indoors

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Democratic National Committee announced Wednesday morning that President Barack Obama will accept the Party’s nomination Thursday night indoors at the Time Warner Arena, not in a larger outdoor stadium as they’d planned.

The stated reason: concerns about the weather.

It’s rained every day of the week so far, although there’s only a 20 percent chance of rain Thursday night and no chance, as of now, of severe weather.

Political observers think the threat of weather offered the campaign a good enough reason to reverse course and, logistical issues aside, avoid the potential dangers of attempting to recreate the 2008 campaign.

After accepting the nomination four years ago outside before more than 86,000 people at Denver’s Invesco Field at Mile High, Obama was possibly going to run the risk of speaking this year in Charlotte at a less-than-full Bank of America Stadium, which seats 76,000 people.

Now, Democrats are apologizing to all the North Carolinians who were given tickets to Thursday night’s speech but will now no longer be able to attend the president’s speech.

“The energy and enthusiasm for our convention in Charlotte has been overwhelming and we share the disappointment of over 65,000 people who signed up for community credentials to be there with the President in person,” said Steve Kerrigan, the chairman of the Democratic National Convention Committee, in a statement announcing the decision Wednesday.

“We encourage our community credential holders and Americans across the country to continue to come together with their friends and neighbors to watch and participate in history. The President will speak to these credential holders on a national conference call tomorrow afternoon, and we will work with the campaign to ensure that those unable to attend tomorrow’s event will be invited to see the President between now and election day.”

The DNC chose to hold its convention in North Carolina, a battleground state that voted Democratic for the first time in a long time four years ago, in an effort to help the president and the party make inroads in the South.

“We chose North Carolina because we’re planting a flag in the South,” DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz told FOX31 Denver earlier this week.

Current polls show Republican Mitt Romney with a one-point lead over Obama in the Tarheel State.