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Election 2012: Obama to take stage after Clinton pitch
U.S. President Barack Obama (l) joins former President Bill Clinton, after nominating speech. PHOTO/J. Scott Applewhite/AP
President Barack Obama goes before the Democratic National Convention and the nation on Thursday for a capstone speech designed not just to persuade undecided voters to swing his way in a tight election but to put fire in the belly of his supporters and get them to come out on Election Day.
Obama senior adviser David Plouffe promised the president would give voters “a very clear sense of where he thinks the country needs to go economically, the path we need to take.” But he also cautioned that no one should expect Obama to slingshot out of his convention with a big boost in polls that have long signaled a close race.
“We’ve always believed that there’s very little elasticity in the election,” said Plouffe, up early to preview the president’s speech on morning talk shows, adding: “You’re not going to see big bounces in this election. For the next 61 days, it’s going to remain tight as a tick.”
Citing a chance of thunderstorms, convention organizers scrapped plans for Obama to speak to an enormous crowd in a 74,000-seat outdoor stadium and decided to shoehorn the event into the convention arena, which accommodates 15,000. That means no reprise of the massive show of support, excitement — and on-scene voter registration — from Obama’s 2008 acceptance speech before 84,000 in Denver. Republicans said Democrats made the switch because they feared the sight of empty seats.
Obama planned to hold an afternoon conference call with the tens of thousands of supporters bumped from the guest list when the speech was moved indoors, and campaign officials said they would try to arrange for those who had stadium tickets to attend another Obama event before Election Day.
Skies over downtown Charlotte were overcast Thursday morning, and the forecast gave a 40 percent chance of showers in the afternoon, leaving a potential opening for second-guessers.
In an election in which the economy is the top issue to voters, the president got a bit of encouraging news when the Labor Department reported that the number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell by 12,000 last week, a hopeful signal that the job market may be improving.
