Charlotte, just two hours from Asheville, will host the Democratic Party’s 2012 presidential convention.
Word had circulated for months that Charlotte was a serious contender for the convention. President Barack Obama won North Carolina in 2008 by a very narrow margin — 14,177 votes, less than he won Buncombe County by — and campaigned extensively in the state, including in Asheville. Given that, it’s likely that North Carolina will be an electoral battleground again.
While the Associated Press broke the story ahead of the party’s formal announcement, an e-mail from first lady Michelle Obama called the news “thrilling” and, while praising the state, mentioned “Barack enjoyed Asheville so much when he spent several days preparing for the second Presidential debate that our family vacationed there.”
— David Forbes, senior news reporter
you guys need a photographer to cover it?