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Democrats encounter bumps on the road to Charlotte
AP (Orange County Register) ^ | 8/31/2012 | GARY D. ROBERTSON
Posted on September 1, 2012 4:34:04 AM EDT by South40
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — When Democrats from around the country gather next week in Charlotte to nominate President Barack Obama for a second term, some may not feel completely at home despite the Southern hospitality. While the party was eager last year to pick a convention city that would help it expand its foothold in the New South, the selection of Charlotte has been a source of consternation among key constituencies and uncertainty among Democratic strategists.
Gay rights activists, for example, plan to protest for same-sex marriage in a state where North Carolina voters easily passed a constitutional amendment banning it.
Members of another key Democratic group, organized labor, intend to picket, too, in part because union leaders are unhappy Democrats picked a state long viewed as hostile to them.
Even North Carolina Democrats have found the state to be cooler lately, with Republicans winning control of the state legislature in 2010 and considered favorites to capture the governor's mansion this year.
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