For Democrats, this year's convention in Charlotte, N.C., is slimmer and trimmer than in years past, clocking in at three days of official business, with one day turned over to a public event.

"Instead of holding a closed-door four-day affair, we've replaced one day of convention programming with a free, public event to kick-off the convention," Democratic National Convention Committee spokesperson Joanne Peters told ABC News.

At first pass, a shorter convention might not seem like a big deal. While convention organizers say it helps to open the convention to the people, even if only for another day, others see the curtailment as a potential red flag of fundraising woes.