Campaign ’12


CONVENTION TENSION Democrats are bent on holding their convention in Charlotte. DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz speaks at the Bank of America Stadium and, inset, at the Time Warner Cable Arena. The convention will be held in both locations.


Democrats Hope to Avert a Tar Heel Debacle


Despite playing host to the DNC convention, political headwinds could blow North Carolina into Republicans’ hands in November.


I BY DAVID A. PATTEN


f you want to know why the obama campaign could face a rout in North Carolina, just ask Hugh McColl Jr. Four years ago, the powerful Bank of America CEO penned an endorsement for then-candidate Barack Obama, praising him for his “sharp intellect, stiff spine, and steady hand.” But in April, the Charlotte, N.C.-based McColl


hosted a fundraiser not for Obama, but for GOP challenger Mitt Romney. “Mitt Romney, as an alternative, is good for the country,” McColl told the Charlotte Observer. McColl’s turnabout speaks volumes about what President Obama faces in a state that elected him by less than half of 1 percent in 2008. Pundits


30 NEWSMAX | AUGUST 2012


cited his win there as proof a political realignment had been achieved. Despite the setback in the 2010 midterms — Republicans took over the state’s legislature for the fi rst time in over a century — Democrats loved the idea that they had established a beachhead in North Carolina. So when it came time to pick the host city for this year’s Democratic National Convention, Obama signed off on Charlotte. “We’re looking at an expanding map rather than shrink-


ing back to husband our resources and play defense,” declared a bullish DNC statement. But the choice of Charlotte for the Sept. 3-6 con- vention seemed star-crossed almost from the start. First lady Michelle Obama emailed Organizing for America loyalists to praise Charlotte as “home to innovative, hardworking folks with big hearts and opens minds. And of course, great barbecue.” That their city was a barbecue mecca came as


MCCOLL Says Mitt Romney may be a good alternative.


news to Charlotte residents. The gaff e prompted the Charlotte Observer to pen an editorial enti- tled “Charlotte = Great Barbecue? Who knew?” It seems like Democrats have been self-destructing in North Carolina ever since. “If the Democrats


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