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As one who lived during the infamous 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago...the concept makes me shudder...
Indeed, it's, in a strange way, fascinating the parallels of the gut wrenching things occuring in society now that are not being dealt with, as they were then, that led to the events of that convention. Maybe this isn't the best time for this thing to come to Charlotte.
CHI!!! You were in CHI then!! OMG. It makes me shudder, too. I wasn't there but I was glued to the TV. The tapes still make me sick to see.
Yep, and, it probably was worse than what was shown on TV. Entire city blocks were burned down and the emotions were so high. It was very terrifying. I was a child, but, I remember one of the blocks that was set on fire was near to my church and as we were driving away after church....watching the block behind me burn....
Yep, and, it probably was worse than what was shown on TV. Entire city blocks were burned down and the emotions were so high. It was very terrifying. I was a child, but, I remember one of the blocks that was set on fire was near to my church and as we were driving away after church....watching the block behind me burn....
Dear Lord - that is just horrific. Yes, I was a kid, too and it terrified me. In fact, it would be years b/f I even wanted to go to Chicago, as those images left such awful memories. (You know I love CHI now - I say this only to explain how traumatizing it was to even see the images - can only imagine how it was to live there at that time).
Charlotte could not begin to handle (financially and manpower-wise) the upheaval that will most likely be going on at the next convention. The country is already starting to seethe over this Admin's policies (and I am not being critical here - just stating what I am seeing from BOTH sides of the aisle).
I personally do not want to see the 2012 DEM or GOP convention held here. It would be a very foolish thing if it happened. The convention needs to be in a much larger city with more law enforcement and better transit system.
As I said earlier - if they want to be in the South, I would go to ATL. Or Miami.
I lived in Boston during the Dem. Nat. Conv in 2004 and it was a horrific mess. They thought it would generate money but it didn't. They closed the major highways into the cities so pretty much everyone took vacation from work during that week and left the city. They allowed random searches on public transit so many people didn't even feel like taking the T.
Small business lost a ridonculous amount of business. The city was a ghost town.
Wait, do people really think that the 2012 Dem convention will be like the 68 Chicago convention, whether here or anywhere else? Wow. I just don't see it, and I hope I'm right.
As for having it here, if the cost/benefit makes sense, why not? The Olympics is not a good analogy -- cities hosting the Olympics spend years and an absolute fortune building stadiums, arenas, nadatoriums, parks, transit, etc. Although a convention requires lots of police overtime, crowd control, etc., it's nothing like hosting the Olympics.
Having just moved from Mpls/St. Paul where the last Republican Convention was held it was generally noted that local business did NOT receive a bump. Everything was fenced off, businesses close to the convention site basically saw lots of police activity, but no one ducked into the stores. Hotel business did well as expected, but with so many private parties not a huge restuarant increase was noted, also convention goers stuck to the arena. We did walk around and it was excellant entertainment though with the cable news networks and parade/demonstrators.
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Political Convention
