Worried by the possibility of severe weather in the Charlotte, North Carolina area on Thursday night, Democratic Party officials reluctantly decided to move President Obama's acceptance speech indoors, creating a headache for organizers who had handed out thousands of tickets for the event.
It means instead of the President speaking to 70,000 or so people at the Bank of America football stadium in Charlotte, the crowd will be about 22,000 at the Time Warner arena where the first two nights of the Democratic National Convention are being held.
Here is a statement that was issued Wednesday morning by the DNC:
More than 65,000 Americans obtained community credentials to attend the event. They will be invited to still take part in history as the President will host a conference call tomorrow afternoon specifically for credentialholders so he may address them directly. Call-in information will be emailed to community credentialholders. The DNCC also said plans will be made to ensure that those unable to attend the nomination acceptance will be invited to see the President between now and election day.
With safety for all the attendees being the ultimate concern, DNCC CEO Steve Kerrigan said, "We have been monitoring weather forecasts closely and several reports predict thunderstorms in the area, therefore we have decided to move Thursday's proceedings to Time Warner Cable Arena to ensure the safety and security of our delegates and convention guests."
The excitement and enthusiasm for the event had been building in Charlotte and across the country over the last several weeks. Supporters are encouraged to sustain that enthusiasm by fulfilling the original intent of the President's public nomination acceptance: Americans coming together with their friends and neighbors to watch and participate in history. Americans everywhere are asked to join with others to watch tomorrow night's proceedings, and engage in an ongoing dialogue about the country's future.
The change was made because of remnants of Hurricane Isaac, which ironically forced Republicans to scrap the first day of their convention last week in Tampa, Florida.
GOP critics said Democrats were just using the weather as an excuse to make the change, charging the Bank of America stadium was going to be filled with empty seats Thursday night.
The development has created a headache for the TV networks, which had already invested resources in setting up equipment inside the stadium. It will also present some difficulties for Democratic Party organizers, who now must figure out who gets a ticket and who does not.
As for the actual weather forecast, the National Weather Service discussion for Thursday talks about the potential for any storms "to be quite a bit stronger than they've been in recent days" and that a "handful of isolated pulse severe/microburst producing storms will be possible."
