I’m very excited about this announcement. Should be an interesting couple of years here.
I’m not sure how much these things matter, but Charlotte seemed like the best choice of the four finalists. Holding on to North Carolina and being competitive in the South will be very important for Obama in 2012.
Obama took NC by less than 14k votes in 2008. I’m not sure he can hold it in 2012. The huge influx of people moving here from the NY/NJ/CT area has slowed dramatically. On the other hand, the two major population centers (Charlotte and Raleigh) were pretty strong for him. Turnout in those cities will be crucial again.
Hmm. That may not be realistic. But going on offense and being competitive in North Carolina, Virginia, and other states is still going to be important.
Anybody want to rent a room?
I’m not sure we have enough hookers either…
John Edwards will probably be asked to keep clear, so this should cut down on demand.
Not so sure this is a wise choice. Charlotte is Ric Flair country. Nobody pops a crowd like the Nature Boy, and he’s a Republican…Wooooooooooo!
I was program chair at a conference in the Convention Center in 2004. An engineering conference, so the hookers knew enough to stay away. Nice convention center, nice city, nice hotels. What is missing are restaurants near the Convention Center. Very few. You guys need to get on the ball and open some.
A lot has changed since 2004. That’s about when I moved here. Maybe not so much in quantity, but definitely in quality.
Well, if you rent a room at my place, I’ll do all the cooking. 
I never had a complaint about the quality. All good, and some very good. But in Austin there are a ton of good restaurants right at the convention center, and if you walk a few blocks to Sixth Street there are a ton more.
To steal from Field of Dreams…
“Build it and they will come…”
I was shocked that Obama won NC in '08 and I’ll be even more shocked if he carries it again in '12. I grew up about 15 miles from Charlotte and the people there make Arizonans look like turbo commies. As seen on my Facebook page: all my “friends” from back home are “defiantly” eating at Chic-Fil-A right now and suggesting everyone else do the same, because Chic-Fil-A apparently came out against gay marriage or some such.
Did they level the “Hive”? If not, is it big enough?
I wonder if a more distinguished North Carolina native than Mr. Edwards, Rev. Billy Graham will come-he has been with both Republicans and Democrats and remains technically a Democrat.
Yes, a few years ago. It’s been replaced with the Time Warner Cable Arena right in the middle of Uptown. It’s where the Bobcats play.
Could the TWCA host the convention?
Oh yeah, that’s where it’s going to be.
I doubt it. He’s getting up there in years and he seems happy to be retired. The pattern lately seems to be that if you want to see Billy Graham, you go up to Montreat yourself to visit.