While football season is just days away from kicking off (the Panthers play their first home preseason game on August 21 against the Jets), city leadership is focused on quarterbacking its way to host an unprecedented event for Charlotte – the 2012 Democratic National Convention. Politics aside, you have to admit locking down the bid would be a monumental step for the Queen City to promote itself to the rest of the nation. Hosting the event would mean national attention, and many are projecting it could bring an economic impact of $120-200 million to the region. Besides all the glamour, media attention and money the DNC would bring to the city, hosting the event would have substantial downsides too – thousands of visitors, heightened security, full hotel rooms, closed streets, etc. In fact, based on the 2008 convention in Denver, it’s estimated that Charlotte would need to fork over $40-45 million to host the event. Nonetheless, city leaders have decided the benefits outweigh the costs, and a majority of North Carolinians agree – 58 percent are in favor of hosting the event according to a poll conducted by Public Policy Polling published last week. We could debate the pros and cons and the means by which the city will obtain the funds to host the event, but instead let’s focus on the impact it could have for young professionals.

A certain dream for politically active young professional Dems, the convention would serve up the utmost opportunity to campaign and participate directly in the political process. On the flip side, it presents quite an opportunity for local young professional Republicans to debate the issues in front of gobs of media outlets from the across the country. But more importantly, it will give our city a national brand – something concrete they can think of when they think “Charlotte.” We are already one of the fastest growing cities among young professionals looking to relocate (especially those escaping the cold in Ohio, western Pennsylvania and Buffalo – you know who you are). The recession has slowed the growth, but a spotlight on our region exhibiting all that the city has to offer and a recovered economy by 2012 (hopefully) will reverse that trend. I think there are too many who don’t know about Charlotte and all she brings to the table – the culture, the sophisticated job market, the incredible infrastructure, her beauty and wonderful location between the mountains and coast, and the first class restaurants and nightlife options. Why not pull back the curtain and show our peers why we live in Charlotte and, most of all, why we love Charlotte?

We should all know the outcome in the next couple of months. Charlotte is competing with Cleveland, St. Louis and Minneapolis as finalists for the bid. The GOP has already selected Tampa as its choice for hosting the RNC, a decision announced last week. Looks like it could be a big summer in 2012 for the Southeast! I’m interested in hearing your thoughts about the DNC bid and whether you think it’s a good idea.