The American Spectator

It’s embarrassing enough that Democrats held their 2012 convention in North Carolina, a state that Mitt Romney will probably carry. Adding to the “uh oh” factor: the Charlotte host committee raising money for the Democrats’ convention has come up $12.5 million short of its original fundraising goal, according to election filings from the FEC made public Oct. 15.

Of the amounts still owed to public and private venues and vendors, the host committees owe $161,000 to the City of Charlotte — $133,000 for convention center operations and $28,000 for volunteer shuttles. The Charlotte Observer reports that, in the past, city officials have promised that taxpayers won’t be on the hook for these expenses, but is there any guarantee?

Dan Murrey, the host committee CEO, told the Observer that neither the Obama campaign nor the Democratic National Committee would help but up the short fall.