The Focus Shifts to Charlotte, All Set for the Obama Show

“This seat’s taken” is the best image that Barack Obama’s found to counter the gag from Clint Eastwood, who spoke to an imaginary president seated in an empty chair. But there is one small detail in Obama’s retort: His chair is shown with its back to us.

Which side is the president, who was under fire at the Republican convention, going to use to represent himself to America? Settle down; it all starts over again on Tuesday. Sure, the states are burning up over the Clint and Mitt show. But after the long Labor Day weekend, the president’s party will launch its convention. Its slogan: maybe its own gags.

So you start over from Charlotte, N.C. — another round, another convention. OK, OK: Barack Obama’s road is all uphill. So what’s new? The president, who in four years has eaten up almost a quarter of his popularity, could hardly have expected to be made fun of on live TV by a Hollywood star, almost as if he were a George W. Bush, in order to get, as they say, the pulse of the country.

The pulse has been beating for a long time — since long before Obama’s arrival at the White House — from a fever which used to be called the financial crisis and which now has a name that voters find even more frightening: unemployment. After all, the real message from Tampa — that the country’s not going to take it anymore — didn’t come from Mitt Romney or Clint Eastwood. Rather, it came from a gentleman who, to tell the truth, is always suspect, not least of all because of his last name: Jeb Bush.

“Mr. President, stop blaming your predecessor for the failure of his policies,” thundered the last scion of the dynasty of poor, sympathetic oilmen, amidst the crowd’s enthusiasm.* So what’s the response Barack Obama’s going to give at the party in Charlotte?

This is where the painful notes begin. American elections aren’t always decided by the people. As was seen by the first ascent to the throne of George II in his race against Al Gore, which was decided by the Supreme Court, it’s the state delegates who make the difference.

So first of all, you have to conquer the states. North Carolina, headquarters of the convention, is one of the states that Barack ripped away from the Republicans four years ago — for the first time since Jimmy Carter. Just re-invoking the name of the peanut farmer president is really scary. Which is just what Mitt Romney did, saying that every occupant of the White House who has come back for re-election could prove to the country that things had improved during his term — except for Jimmy Carter and this president. Romney obviously lies: A certain George Bush, Sr. was also not re-elected for a second term.

But it is precisely the nightmare of having only the people’s mandate that’s gnawing at Obama. Charlotte is not the best place to show the White House silver; among other things, it’s rather tarnished. Here, unemployment is at 9.6 percent, a level among the highest in the United States.

And even if they’re fresh from the Democratic conquest, North Carolina is not even a place where they can brag about their achievements — they’ve banned, for example, those gay marriages that Obama has blatantly supported. Charlotte is also the home of the capitalism most disliked by Occupy Wall Street. It’s the home of Bank of America, the mother of all banks responsible for the housing crisis. We expect, therefore, not so paradoxically, more anti-globalization protests here than under the windows of Tampa’s Republican millionaires.

Add in a hideously anti-union legislation — which turned up their noses at the choice of the convention to those unions that are not only the Democrats’ electoral arm, but who also four years ago dropped more than $8 million for the cause — and you’ll understand why Obama’s road is more than steep.

What can you say? Even here, with this risky choice, Barack seems to have hurt himself. But isn’t overcoming impossible odds the strength of this president? On the eve of the show in Tampa, the relationship between Obama and Romney — as far as the undecided vote goes — was 46 to 43 percent. The surveys, today, continue to rain in.

But it is no coincidence that Scott Rasmussen, the magician of right-wing numbers, one of the few to have predicted the rise of the tea party, is now holding out his hands. Conventions, he says after the Mitt & Clint show, don’t move the vote as much as they used to. Yeah, four years later, Obama is still ahead — by a breath, but he’s ahead. Next week, 35,000 people invade Charlotte for “his” party.

“The show must go on,” and this time Obama’s the one leading it, which is something he fundamentally knows how to do. Michelle is going to speak, which will answer the sympathy challenge launched by Ann Romney. Also speaking will be Bill Clinton, who will talk about how America has nothing to repent for having done — at a time that wasn’t exactly economically brilliant — his second term.

Clint’s bit? As for that, Barack has (Eastwood himself said it, after all) all of Hollywood on his side. Yes, that chair in the White House is occupied, maybe shakily, but it’s occupied. The Battle of Charlotte will tell us for how long.

*Editor’s Note: This quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.