By Yaël Ossowski | Watchdog.org

CHARLOTTE — The whole point of a Democratic Convention in North Carolina was to support President Barack Obama‘s effort to capture the state’s critical 15 electoral votes.

But a funny thing happened on the way to Charlotte: the popular local Democrats who might show up at the president’s side — lending him their credibility — failed to show up.

Some observers wonder if that will depress the post-convention bump in the polls the president’s campaign might expect.

“It depends on how the Democrats are able to use the interest and excitement surrounding the convention,” said Martha Kropf, associate professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. 

“Conventions are always going to give people a little more excitement because it’s a show, if you like that sort of thing, That will give Democrats a small convention bump.”

But Obama will struggle to find popular statewide wingmen and women.

Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue chose not to run for re-election this fall, and holds only a 30 perent approval rating, according to the latest survey by Public Policy Polling, based in Raleigh.

Perdue has struggled to overcome the efforts of the Republican-led Legislature in the state capital, bringing her to the point of vetoing the budget in 2011.

Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan isn’t doing much better. Elected along with Obama in the Class of 2008, she enjoys — if that’s the word — a very modest 38 percent approval rating, according to the same poll.

The only memorable achievement of Hagan’s tenure: asking the Environmental Protection Agency to waive corn-based ethanol production requirements, according to the Raleigh News & Observer, a move that paired her briefly with several Republican colleagues.

Both are scheduled to speak at the DNC but, critically, have not planned larger campaign events around the state with Obama.

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