It's a festive scene outside the Time Warner Cable Arena here in Charlotte. Thousands of delegates, Obama supporters and vendors crowd the streets before and after each day's convention session.

It's vastly different than the vibe outside Republicans' convention in Tampa, where the streets were mostly deserted during non-convention times. Being in both cities, we did notice that the security perimeter may have played a part in the crowd control. The zone in Tampa stretched several blocks around the Tampa Bay Times Forum, and popular hot-spots like the CNN Grill were hidden within. Here in Charlotte, security is set up closer to the arena, and CNN and MSNBC's set-ups are highly visible in the Uptown Epicenter, visible to anyone walking by.

In both cities, delegates could be seen wearing their support for their candidates on their sleeves. While the Republicans opted for matching shirts and hats identifying their delegations, the Democrats are much less uniform; but certainly no less spirited.

Below is a slideshow from the sights outside the arena, today: