DNC Committee Gets Grand Tour Of Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C.,None — With Charlotte in the running to host the 2012 Democratic National Convention, Eyewitness News anchor Blair Miller went to Denver, the site of the last DNC, to see what it takes to win the bid. You can see his reports here. For extended coverage of Charlotte's DNC bid, click here.

The DNC site selection committee left Charlotte on Wednesday afternoon after touring the city.

Aboard a charter bus, committee members were driven by the NASCAR Hall of Fame and then along the west Charlotte campus of Johnson C. Smith University. They also drove race cars in the Richard Petty Driving Experience at the speedway and inspected Time Warner Cable Arena, which could be the centerpiece of the 2012 convention if Charlotte is chosen.

By Wednesday afternoon, Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx said he thinks the city measured up just fine.

"Within the sphere of things that we can control, I think we put our best foot forward," he said.

Gov. Beverly Perdue headed to Charlotte specifically to help sell Charlotte.

"I think we match every other venue logistically and technically, but I have a little more than any place in America, and that's our people," Perdue said.

She was named the honorary chairperson of Charlotte's bid. Co-chair Jim Rogers, the CEO of Duke Energy, said if Charlotte wins, his biggest job will be finding a way to raise the $40 million required of the host city.

"You think about the money this city has raised in the past, whether it's the Bobcats or the Panthers, we did it," Rogers said. "I believe we can do it."

But first, Rogers and the city must wait to see if the committee chooses Charlotte. The decision is expected sometime before the end of the year.

WSOC