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| Greek Columns and Greek Budgets- Dems Fail Again |
The nomination of Barack Obama will happen at a shortened and significantly scaled back Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina Sept 4 - 6 2012 The attempt to spin the waning support for the POTUS and the grumbling and withholding of precious cash by Big Labor hasn't gone unnoticed.
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AP Reports 6/25/2012
Organizers change venue for Democrats’ celebration
Organizers of a celebration scheduled to kick off the Democratic
National Convention are moving the Labor Day event from Charlotte Motor
Speedway to the city's downtown.Charlotte In 2012 spokeswoman Suzi Emmerling said late Monday that as the date of the event drew closer, logistics became a challenge. Emmerling said moving the celebration to downtown Charlotte near the convention venue would make it more accessible and family friendly. The speedway is about 18 miles outside the city.
The convention has already been shortened from the traditional four days to three to have a day to celebrate the region.
The convention is being held at Charlotte's Time Warner Arena. President Barack Obama's nomination acceptance speech on Sept. 6 is scheduled for Bank of America Stadium. Both arenas are in downtown Charlotte Organizers change venue for Democrats’ celebration
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As Bloomburg Reports: 6/25/2012
Democrats May Drop Speedway Event at Charlotte Convention
Democrats are considering canceling their political convention’s kick-off event at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, as party planners grapple with a roughly $27 million fundraising deficit, according to two people familiar with matter.Convention and campaign officials will make a final decision later this week after Steve Kerrigan, the chief executive officer of the Charlotte, North Carolina convention committee, discusses the matter with President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, based in Chicago, said the two people, who requested anonymity to discuss internal party politics.
Mayor Anthony Foxx and Duke Energy Corp. (DUK) CEO Jim Rogers are co-chairmen of the Committee for Charlotte 2012, which said that it was committed to the event.
“The Host Committee is not canceling CarolinaFest,” said Suzi Emmerling, a spokeswoman for the host committee.
Kristie Greco, a spokeswoman for the Democratic National Convention Committee, which plans the convention while leaving the fundraising to the host committee, declined to comment on whether the DNCC was still dedicated to the NASCAR-themed day.
In January, Kerrigan said that Democrats were shortening their convention from four days to three, “to make room for a day to organize and celebrate the Carolinas, Virginia and the South and kick off the convention at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Labor Day,” Sept. 3.
Stadium Speech
Kerrigan also announced that Obama would accept his party’s nomination at the almost 74,000-seat Bank of America Stadium, home of the Carolina Panthers professional football team. The outdoor finale would echo Obama’s convention speech at Invesco Field in Denver four years ago.While the Democrats will receive a $50 million grant from the Department of Homeland Security to defray police costs for the Sept 4-6 convention, security for the Speedway festival may not be eligible because the event isn’t part of the official convention proceedings. With a party ban on direct contributions from corporations, the host committee has raised less than $10 million, well short of its $36.6 million goal, said one of the people.
Republicans will also receive a $50 million grant for their four-day convention in Tampa, Florida, August 27-30.
Last week, the U.S. Senate voted 95-4 to end public funding for the both party’s national nominating conventions, adopting an amendment from Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn.
Public Money
Coburn has argued that it’s hypocritical for lawmakers to spend public money on their party conventions after criticizing the General Services Administration for spending $823,000 on a 2010 conference near Las Vegas.The nominating conventions are funded through a combination of public and private money. Congress has appropriated $100 million for security at the conventions with an additional $36 million going to the two parties for other convention expenses.
Republicans have not placed any restrictions on where they raise money and have secured corporate contributions from companies including AT&T Inc. (T), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Coca-Cola Co. (KO), to meet their $55 million target.
Four years ago, corporate entities accounted for more than $33 million of the amount Democrats raised for the Denver convention, according to campaign finance reports. Democrats in Charlotte have a second committee, New American City Inc., that does accept corporate contributions and will help pay for some of the convention’s costs.
Labor Reluctant
In April, representatives of the major U.S. unions, including the AFL-CIO, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the United Auto Workers, were given a tour of the convention sites in Charlotte, as Democratic officials prepared to ask them to help cover their funding shortfall.
Labor organizations have been reluctant to contribute to
the convention because Charlotte lacks unionized hotels and is
in a state where compulsory union membership or the payment of
dues is prohibited as an employment condition.
North Carolina is one of about a dozen states that
Democratic and Republican strategists say are likely to
determine the outcome of the presidential election. Democrats May Drop Speedway Event at Charlotte Convention
