Bummer. Tomorrow night's speeches have been moved inside.

[nolabear]

Ugh. They're going to Time Warner. Lots of people will be disappointed, but the weather is predicted to be awful.

[WI_DEM]

1. It sucks but we want the President's speech to be successfully televised

and a pouring rain, winds, etc wouldn't help. It was a wise move.

[Liberalynn]

2. David Schuster tweeted

they couldn't fill the seats. I hope that is not true.

[GusFring]

4. and now that tweet will be retweeted by repukes. Is it suppose to rain?

I think this is bad. The stadium would've been a much better show.

[FarPoint]

5. Oh for Chrissake! It is a logical, prudent decision to stay out of pouring rain.

The speech is the focus....not the seating venue.

No wonder David can't keep a job.

[fugop]

6. Seriously, where did he get that info?

I'm skeptical that "Dem officials" told him they couldn't fill the seats. I've checked the weather, and it does suggest there could be pm t-storms. This is really a dopey thing for him to post. Guess he just wanted a bunch of wackjobs to repost his tweet with "See??? Obama sucks!" attached to it. Shame on you, David.

[Dawgs]

7. I think he's right. Right now there is little chance of rain for tomorrow evening.

Ask yourself if an outdoor football game would have been cancelled this far in advance - or at all.

[GusFring]

8. are you sure? I keep hearing different things. Shouldn't have held the even in Cha.

[Dawgs]

13. I live in the South and the afternoon showers they are predicting aren't a threat.

It wouldn't concern me one bit.

They may know something I don't, but lightning strikes, let alone rain, have been very, very rare with the current forecast.

[fugop]

12. Depends on what you mean by "little chance"

From what I've seen, it's about a 40 percent chance of evening t-storms. It all comes down to risk. If you risk it and get the t-storm, it completely disrupts the President's televised speech. And the logistics of moving the entire thing (or protecting thousands of people without a stampede, should a t-storm show up) would be a nightmare. Why risk it?

Also, I find it impossible to believe they would be unable to fill the stadium. Believe what you will. But they have to get the speech done, and they have to get it done on schedule (due to network broadcasting schedules). So it strikes me that they'd rather be safe than sorry.

[Dawgs]

16. See post #13.

Afternoon thunderstorm forecasts in the South are common, and rarely do they produce any kind of significant rain. And, they almost never produce lightning.

I understand the concern, but that's a lot of people that potentially made plans (I considered it myself) that will be more than a little irritated.

[quinnox]

10. probably both are factors

I think the excitement level for Obama this time around is quite a bit lower than in 2008, so it would be difficult to fill the stadium fully, and also the poor weather would be another reason to drop the stadium idea.

[luvspeas]

3. Too bad. It could have looked like this:

[link:http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/28/644778/-BE-INSPIRED-9-000-IN-THE-RAIN-for-Obama-in-Chester-PA|

[SoCalDem]

9. September in Hurricane country is always dicey

If you want guaranteed "severe-clear", you must stay away from "
weather-ish" places.

[nanabugg]

11. Speeches inside the correct move. If there is overflow and it doesn't storm, speeches can be shown

on stadium screen for those who want to sit outside.

[fugop]

14. Exactly!

I hope they do exactly this! I really hope something is set up for the overflow. That would be a wonderful visual as well. I always got such chills from watching the overflow at Obama events. It really demonstrated the passion of those folks. As a member of the overflow at the Inauguration (couldn't make it to the mall due to crowds so wound up in a nearby bar - whoop!), I can vouch for their passion being just as great as those who make it into the packed Obama events!

[truebrit71]

15. It had better be pissing down tomorrow otherwise the rethuglicans will be all over this...

...I'm not buying the 'too many empty seats' bullshit either...fuck, if it weren't so far away I'd drive to hear that speech..

[GusFring]

17. 40% chance of thunder is risky.