KTBB’s Paul Gleiser Covering the DNC in Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, NC — In 2008, the Democratic National Convention reached its climax with Barack Obama giving his acceptance speech before a crowd estimated at 84,000 at what was then known as Invesco Field at Mile High and is now known as Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Regardless of the naming rights deal du jour, it’s the stadium where the NFL Denver Broncos play football. Every seat was filled and the air fairly crackled with excitement.

The intention was to repeat that event at Bank of America Stadium here in Charlotte. However, the decision was made to scrap the outdoor venue and conclude the convention here in Time Warner Cable Arena in which activities for Tuesday and Wednesday night were held. According to some published reports, the concern was that the stadium will have thousands of empty seats, which would constitute a potentially devastating visual for the Obama campaign.

This is not the official reason, of course. Officials say the decision to move the finale of the Democratic National Convention back to the Time Warner Cable Arena is because of concern for the weather. It has rained pretty much every afternoon and evening since the weekend here in Charlotte and all of the weather websites put the chance of rain and/or thunderstorms in today’s forecast. But convention organizers had been saying that the stadium event would go on rain or shine.

Follow Gleiser on Twitter @KTBBDecision12 and online at http://www.ktbb.com/decision2012