DNC 2012 Convention: St. Louis Loses Bid to Charlotte ... A Benedict Arnold Involved?

Besides the snow storm being the big news yesterday, the other big story was St. Louis losing its bid to host the 2012 DNC convention.  Back in July I posted about St. Louis being a contender -- being "bellweather territory."  Now, with the decision being made for Charlotte, the skuttlebutt is that Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill might have fought against having the convention in Missouri to bolster her chances for re-election.  From The Roll Call:

Democrats’ Convention Choice Showcases Tension

... The decision to highlight the South in the president’s nominating convention could signal a broader strategy for his re-election campaign, said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), who said she was “bitterly disappointed” that St. Louis was passed over.

“I think the president and the president’s campaign team have always tried to do things a little differently,” she said. “There has never been a Democratic candidate for president who put a team on the ground in Utah and Idaho, and he did that. So I think to try to go counterintuitive and go into the South for the nominating convention, I understand why that was attractive to the president’s political team.”

In 2008, Obama won North Carolina, a state that had backed GOP nominees in every presidential election since 1976.

But in choosing Charlotte, the Democrats declined to make a visible stand in Missouri, a swing state that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) won in 2008 by fewer than 4,000 votes.

Holding the convention in St. Louis would have given the Show-Me State an economic and political boost in a year when McCaskill faces re-election for the first time. She is considered one of the most vulnerable first-term Democratic Senators; Roll Call Politics rates her race a Tossup.

McCaskill stressed that a strong showing in the Midwest would be a key factor in Obama’s re-election. “He’s got to have the Midwest, and I don’t think anybody should interpret this as giving up on the Midwest,” she said. “I don’t think that’s the case. ... They’ve decided that the symbolism of going into the South is important. ... I think you’ll see the campaign all over the Midwest.”

But the New York Times reported that McCaskill privately was asking for the convention to be held elsewhere because it could complicate her re-election bid. Her office did not rebut the claim when reporters asked and instead repeated that she was disappointed.
 ...

McCaskill, an early supporter of Obama’s 2008 presidential run, said she was “very proud” of the St. Louis effort.

“I got worried a few weeks ago when all of a sudden they quit returning my phone calls,” McCaskill said, referring to the DNC. “I think I drove them crazy.”

Yeah, sure, Claire.

Poor Charlotte.  I see one "people's struggle" website was already planning anti-war protests back in July.  Oh, let the fun begin!