(Reuters) - Democrats hold their convention to nominate President Barack Obama for a second term this week and they face the challenge of convincing Americans to stick with the incumbent despite a failure to bring down persistently high unemployment.
Here are some points to look for when the Democrats convene Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in Charlotte, North Carolina.
- Obama's speech: It is the signature event, taking place as the convention concludes on Thursday.Obama faces the test of persuading voters that his tepid economic record is worthy of four more years and that he has a plan to generate strong job growth. How will he make the sale to a nation tired of years of economic troubles? Most of his campaign stump speeches so far have been about why he feels Republican rival Mitt Romney should not be elected, rather than charting specific ways out of high unemployment and a gaping budget deficit. Obama is expected to hammer home his message that he would grow the economy "from the bottom up" by helping middle class families and ending tax breaks for the wealthy. By talking in more specific terms than Romney did last week, Obama's team hopes to draw a contrast between the two. Obama advisers believe that Romney missed a big chance during the Republican convention to lay out a blueprint for fixing the economy.
ExpectObama to put some emphasis on the war in Afghanistan after Romney was criticized for not mentioning the conflict and honoring U.S. troops there in his convention speech last week. Obama is almost certain to point out his leading role in last year's killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, in a counter to any Republican argument that he is weak on national security.
- Imagery: Obama's speech will take place in Bank of America stadium, where the NFL's Carolina Panthers play football. One question that arises is whether Obama will be able to fill up the almost 74,000-seat facility. The Democrat had a full house on hand for his nomination acceptance speech four years ago in a Denver stadium, but Obama has not been able to generate the same kind of enthusiasm as he did in 2008. What sort of stage will he use? Democrats set up Greek columns for him in Denver, a touch that Republicans mocked as being pretentious. Look for something more subdued this time around.
- Women: The Republicans brought out leading women from the party like New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez at their convention to counter claims by Democrats that they are anti-women or engaged in a "war on women" over birth control. In Charlotte, Democrats are bound to go on the offensive in an effort to increase the lead in polls among women voters that Obama enjoys over Romney. Speakers like California Attorney General Kamala Harris, Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren and Hollywood star Eva Longoria will no doubt make a strong pitch to women for Obama. House of Representatives Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi will bring on stage a group of Democratic congresswomen and female candidates and First Lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden's wife Jill speak to the Democrats' women's caucus on Thursday.
- Bill Clinton: The most popular living ex-president has become an elder statesman for the Democrats who will try to convince Americans that Obama's policies can bring years of prosperity like the 1990s when the United States enjoyed budget surpluses under his administration. But there is the danger that the eloquent Clinton could upstage Obama's speech the following night.
- Democrats' enthusiasm: Obama needs to inject energy into his faithful followers. A Gallup poll a month ago showed that only 39 percent of Democrats are more enthusiastic than usual about the election, compared with 61 percent in 2008 and 68 percent in 2004. Fifty-one percent of Republicans were more enthusiastic than usual in 2012. Democratic leaders realize that the energy from Obama's campaign four years ago is long gone. "Nobody is sitting up here saying this is 2008," Obama adviser Robert Gibbs told CNN's State of the Union on Sunday.
- The weather: Tropical Storm Isaac forced cancellation of one day of the Republican convention and took some attention away from it as the storm boiled into a hurricane and lashed the Gulf of Mexico coast. Possible thunderstorms are forecast for Charlotte on Thursday when Obama is due to give his big speech in an open-air stadium. Trying to shift the event to an indoor venue at the last moment could cause chaos and would upset the tens of thousands of supporters who got tickets to hear the president speak.
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