Democrats WILL move Obama's big speech from 74,000-seater outdoor stadium to smaller indoor arena citing bad weather (but was it really because they couldn't fill it?)

Crucial speech will now be held in 20,000 seater Time Warner indoor area

Organizers blamed bad weather forecast but some questioned whether he could fill the huge outdoor stadium

Forecast is now for 40 per cent chance of rain and possible thunderstorms

Campaign aides had just days ago said he'd appear 'come rain or shine'

Democrats today announced that President Barack Obama's big speech on Thursday night will move from the vast Bank of America stadium to the much-smaller Time Warner indoor arena.

While organisers blamed weather forecasts of lightning, the switch means that Obama has avoided the possibility of having to accept his party’s nomination before a partially-empty stadium. Just hours earlier, officials had been insisting the speech would go ahead in the stadium 'rain or shine'.

' We have been monitoring weather forecasts closely and several reports predict thunderstorms in the area, therefore we have decided to move Thursday's proceedings to Time Warner Cable Arena to ensure the safety and security of our delegates and convention guests,' said convention chief Steve Kerrigan.

But convention sources exclusively told the MailOnline on Tuesday that the real reason behind the switch was fears within the Obama campaign that there would be large numbers of empty seats in the 74,000-seater stadium. The Time Warner arena has a capacity of just over 20,000.



Keep moving: President Obama arrived in Charlotte, North Carolina on Wednesday and is expected to attend the convention tonight before speaking on Thursday

Military arrival: The theme of caring for military families was a present one in Tuesday night's speeches, and in keeping with that, the President arrived at the Air National Guard base

Torrential downpour: It was raining so hard at Andrews Air Force Base that the visibility was visibly diminished when the President was leaving Washington to head down to North Carolina

Change of storms: The weather did not bode well in Washington (pictured) and there is a 40 per cent chance of rain tomorrow night in Charlotte during the President's speech

The latest Weather Underground forecast for Charlotte on Thursday states that there is a 40 per cent chance of rain tomorrow and only the possibility of thurnderstorms: 'Overcast with a chance of a thunderstorm and a chance of rain..Chance of rain 40% with rainfall amounts near 4.8 mm possible.' The chances of rain in the evening drop to 30 per cent.

A convention worker told MailOnline on Tuesday: ‘It looks like a done deal to me. The decision’s apparently been taken and it’s just a matter of spinning it as being forced on us by the weather.’ As the source was speaking, Democrats were saying publicly the event would go ahead as planned.

The Obama campaign had been working desperately to ensure that the stadium in Charlotte would be filled. Buses for students from across North Carolina and even members of black churches in neighboring South Carolina and Georgia had been arranged. One source told MailOnline that 1,000 people were being bused in from Atlanta - 244 miles from Charlotte.

Now, the campaign will be left with the headache of telling the tens of thousands of people they had arranged to travel to Charlotte for the speech that they will be turned away.

Same stage: First Lady Michelle Obama wowed the crowd at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte on Tuesday evening, and now due to weather the President will speak from the same podium on Thursday

Original plan: While Barack was initially meant to speak outside, Mrs Obama was always planning on giving her speech on the first night of the Democratic National Convention indoors

A man uses a plastic trash bag for rain protection at the Carolina Fest street fair, on the eve of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on September 3, 2012 in Charlotte, North Carolina

Kerrigan said: '' The energy and enthusiasm for our convention in Charlotte has been overwhelming and we share the disappointment of over 65,000 people who signed up for community credentials to be there with the President in person. We encourage our community credential holders and Americans across the country to continue to come together with their friends and neighbours to watch and participate in history. 'The President will speak to these credential holders on a national conference call tomorrow afternoon, and we will work with the campaign to ensure that those unable to attend tomorrow's event will be invited to see the President between now and election day.' Footage of rows of empty seats at the stadium, home of the Carolina Panthers, as Obama spoke on Thursday night would have been be politically disastrous – an enduring image of the contrast between his campaign of ‘hope’ and ‘change’ in 2008 and his dour, negative struggle for re-election in 2012. But it seems that the weather came to the President's rescue. Speaking at a background briefing for the press, a Democratic official said that the speech would be given in the stadium ‘rain or shine’ but then quickly added a major caveat.

The Bank of America stadium site - which seats 74,000 - where U.S. President Barack Obama WAS set to give his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte

The event: The convention is being held in the Time Warner Cable Arena which begins Tuesday night

Filled to the brim: Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley addressed the thousands of attendees Tuesday evening

‘We do have a contingency plan, though, for lightning or other severe weather,’ he said. ‘We don't want to put anyone in harm's way so that's really what we're looking for, not if it's going to rain but if it's going to be really bad. ‘The reason that we're not releasing the details on what a move to the arena would mean until that decision is made we don't want a lot of conflicting information out there. 'But once that decision is made - if the decision is made - to move, we will make sure all of the details and we want to make sure all of our supporters know exactly what is happening if it changes.’ Another official said that the use of the stadium was being reviewed ‘on an ongoing basis and we’ll keep you informed on any decision’.

Campaign workers fold up an Obama banner after a sudden thunderstorm washed out the Carolina Fest street fair, in Charlotte, North Carolina

Democratic convention sources have indicated that the 'contingency plan' is at an advanced stage and that a move to the stadium appears certain. Michelle Obama gives an interview after in the Time Warner Cable Arena today

Convention delegates, party volunteers and Democratic officials gathered in Charlotte would have made up about one-third of a crowd in the Bank of America stadium, which officials have said would be 65,000 people.

In 2008, when Obama fever was at its height, the then US Senator had no trouble filling an 84,000-seater outside stadium at Invesco Field in Denver, Colorado. But voter enthusiasm has waned this time around.

Obama’s crowds in 2008 were far bigger than in recent months. His largest audience has been 14,000 at a campaign kick-off rally at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio in May.

