(UPDATE: 3:34pm — it is raining here in Charlotte, North Carolina. )
(UPDATE: 4:37pm — from my hotel room — I can see sunny skies off to one side and looking down on the street people have umbrellas open protecting them)
I think the media can ‘give it a rest’ when it comes to any more discussion about moving President Obama’s speech inside tonight. Like at the Republican convention, when Hurricane Isaac threatened, a prudent decision was made. The weather was awful this week here in Charlotte and when the decision was made, it was very uncertain what tonight would be here (it still is not certain.)
As it turned out, Isaac spared Tampa and maybe Mother Nature will spare Charlotte tonight. It would have been a nightmare had the event been held outdoors and it rained – lightning or no lightning.
I know many of you are suspicious that the event was moved inside solely because the Obama campaign could not fill the stadium (and I don’t know if the campaign could or could not) but sometimes we can look downright petty being obsessed with the small stuff when there are real issues to talk about.
I have a suggestion: in lieu of trying to create a Watergate level scandal about the weather and the stadium, let’s talk about the fact that politicians are pushing off important decisions until they are safely past election day and are in the lame duck period. Here is another one and this one specifically for President Obama: if the economy is not fixed now or even trending very favorably, why should voters think that another 4 years of the same strategy is a successful action? And if we want to talk strictly about the convention, it is always interesting to discuss the political strategy, what they seek to achieve, where are the undecideds and how are they going to be reached by both tickets?
PS – this is not to suggest (with my 20 plus years in cable) that I am not capable of being a cable news sinner – obsessed with the petty - it just so happens that this time, and with this issue, I see the light!
