Zach Wahls, right, joins Minneapolis area families at a Vote No picnic Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012 to discuss how the proposed Minnesota constitutional marriage amendment would have a negative impact on Minnesota families and limit the freedom to marry for same-sex couples. Wahls, an Iowan who was raised by a lesbian couple, stands alongside a lesbian couple, Mary Gustafson, left, and Jenny Simonds and sons Charlie, left, and Carter Gustafson. Wahls is scheduled to address the Democratic National Convention. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
Zach Wahls, right, joins Minneapolis area families at a Vote No picnic Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012 to discuss how the proposed Minnesota constitutional marriage amendment would have a negative impact on Minnesota families and limit the freedom to marry for same-sex couples. Wahls, an Iowan who was raised by a lesbian couple, stands alongside a lesbian couple, Mary Gustafson, left, and Jenny Simonds and sons Charlie, left, and Carter Gustafson. Wahls is scheduled to address the Democratic National Convention. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
Protesters seek shelter from a pouring rain at Marshall Park in Charlotte, N.C., Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012 during the Democratic National Convention. President Obama's speech was moved from Bank of America Stadium to the indoor Time Warner Cable Arena due to weather concerns. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
First lady Michelle Obama gives a high five to Jonathan Ruiz as they help fill bags for a USO service project during the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
Singer James Taylor performs during the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., on Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks with the news media after making a stop at the "New Hampshire Veterans and Military Families for Mitt" event in Concord, N.H., Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) ? Convention Watch shows you the 2012 political conventions through the eyes of Associated Press journalists. Follow them on Twitter where available with the handles listed after each item.
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MODERN FAMILY
Zach Wahls, a 21-year-old activist raised by lesbian parents in the Midwest, got a speaking slot Thursday evening at the Democratic Convention and is sharing some intimate family history.
"People want to know what it's like having lesbian parents," Wahls says. "I'll let you in on a secret: I'm awesome at putting the seat down."
He went on to praise President Barack Obama for endorsing same-sex marriage, and to criticize Republican nominee Mitt Romney for opposing it.
"Mr. Romney," Wahls says, "my family is just as real as yours."
It was by no means Wahls' first foray into the political spotlight. Back in high school, he wrote an op-ed for Iowa's largest newspaper, advocating legalization of same-sex marriage. Last year, he addressed an Iowa legislative hearing, speaking out against a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.
And this year, as a former Eagle Scout, Wahls had been leading a national protest campaign ? thus far unsuccessful ? to pressure the Boy Scouts of America into scrapping their ban on gay members and adult volunteers.
? David Crary ? Twitter http://twitter.com/CraryAP
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THAT WOULD'VE BEEN WET
"I would've enjoyed the stadium, but if it was pouring I would not want to be in there for the six hours of speeches." ? Democratic delegate Grifynn Clay of Snohomish, Wash., on the original venue for President Barack Obama's speech Thursday night.
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SINGING FROM A CHAIR
A political convention. A celebrity. An empty chair. Don't worry, says singer James Taylor, there's nothing to fear.
A week after Clint Eastwood appeared at the Republican National Convention and created a mini-phenomenon ? replete with its own Twitter meme ? by talking to a chair on stage, Taylor couldn't resist a joke at the actor and director's expense as he opened up the final night of the Democratic convention.
"It's an empty chair, it makes you nervous," Taylor told the convention as he took the stage. "Don't worry ? I'm going to sit on it. I'm not going to talk to it."
Taylor promptly plopped down and launched into one of his most famous hits "Carolina in My Mind," a particularly apropos tune given the convention's host state.
The crooner rose from his chair after finishing that song, only to play a few more upbeat songs.
"I'm an old white guy, and I love Barack Obama," Taylor said.
? Henry C. Jackson ? Twitter http://twitter.com/hjacksonap
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MARATHON WORRIES
Democrats may believe there is much to fault Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan about. But in the eyes of former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean, Ryan may not be as vulnerable over his spending cuts or criticism that he may have misled voters about a GM plan closing as he is over something else.
"What's going to kill him is lying about his marathon time," Dean said on "CBS This Morning."
"You get branded as someone you can't trust."
Ryan, a former fitness instructor, recently told a radio host that he ran a marathon in less than three hours. He later corrected the record after Runner's World magazine found evidence he had completed one marathon, in 1990, and finished in just over four hours. Ryan laughed off the initial misstatement, saying it was a long time ago and he had forgotten his exact time.
? Hope Yen
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BETTER THAN 4 YEARS AGO?
Are Democrats here in Charlotte insulted by the taunts Republicans are throwing at them? Well, sure, but at least the derision is boosting the economy.
One street vendor near the convention center was drawing customers Thursday with exuberant shouts of "More T-shirts than four years ago!" That was a play on the Republicans' pointed question to voters: "Are you better off than four years ago" when Barack Obama took office? And sales were quite brisk for stacks of brand-new shirts showing a seated Obama and the slogan: "This seat is taken," a retort to Clint Eastwood's mock questioning of an invisible president in an empty chair at last week's GOP convention.
Vendors have sold loads of campaign buttons this week, but they've got lots left, too. On the convention's last day, some were still going for $2.50, but at least one seller was in inventory-clearance mode with delegates leaving town: "All buttons one dollar," he was shouting. "Everything on this table one dollar!"
? Robert Furlow ? Twitter http://twitter.com/furl442
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WHO BUILT THAT?
About that presidential comment to business owners that "You didn't build that" ...
President Barack Obama says he stands by his point ? that government plays a huge supporting role for businesses.
But now that Republicans have been ridiculing the comment for weeks, Obama allows that maybe he could have phrased it better.
"Obviously, I have regrets for my syntax," Obama said in a taped television interview with WWBT in Norfolk, Va.
"But not for the point, because everyone who was there watching knows exactly what I was saying."
? Nancy Benac ? Twitter http://twitter.com/nbenac
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CLINTON RENAISSANCE?
Bill Clinton's fiery 48-minute convention speech on Wednesday night is stoking superlatives about the former president ? not to mention renewed chatter about the presidential chances of his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, should she opt to run in 2016.
Speaking on "CBS This Morning," two former Democratic National Committee chairmen, former Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont and former Philadelphia mayor Ed Rendell, couldn't stop heaping enough praise when asked about Clinton. Some excerpts, paraphrased:
Dean: He has a great connection.
Rendell: He's become like everyone's wise old uncle.
Dean: A phenomenon. The greatest since Franklin Roosevelt.
Rendell: The only communicator who comes close in the modern era is Ronald Reagan.
Dean: There's only one Bill Clinton.
As to Hillary Rodham Clinton's chances in 2016, both Dean and Rendell were quick to agree when asked about a scenario even where Vice President Joe Biden chooses to run.
Rendell: If she wants it, the field just goes away.
? Hope Yen
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GABFEST
Sensing a mini trend:
Former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, known to all as Gabby, will deliver the Pledge of Allegiance at the Democratic convention on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the pledge-leader was Olympic champion Gabby Douglas.
? Nancy Benac ? Twitter http://twitter.com/nbenac
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