everyone welcome mayor harvey gantt. >> thank you for being here today. they told me the republicans have a few dozen people. this looks like a few thousand people here today. that is absolutely fantastic. it is great to see so many of you. yet to celebrate our 60 in the 2012 democratic national convention. most of you who know me know that i am very proud of charlottes and what it has accomplished over the years. i have been proud of this great city. let me tell you something. this is the next step to leading to more prosperous future. we are ready. we are ready to seize the opportunity and to market the queen city to the entire world. -if there is one thing that charlottes and the south does very well it is that hospitality thing. here in the south will only invite a guest to our house, we invite the ceos to our home. we want to welcome them in. we want to put our best foot forward for them. this is not just one guess coming to charlotte. it is 35,000 people including the vice president of the united states and the president of the united states of amer