CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A top Democrat defended President Barack Obama's self-assessed "incomplete" grade after a term in office, arguing that the president was simply "being humble."

"I give him an ‘A’ for effort.  I give him an ‘A’ for making sure that Americans are better off today than they were four years ago,” Antonio Villaraigosa, the chairman of the Democratic National Convention and mayor of Los Angeles, told reporters this morning.

Monday, President Obama was asked by a television reporter in Colorado how he would grade his performance on the economy.

"You know, I would say ‘incomplete,'" said Obama.

"What I would say," Obama reportedly added, "is the steps that we have taken in saving the auto industry, in making sure that college is more affordable, and investing in clean energy and science and technology and research, those are all the things that we are going to need to grow over the long term."

"I think he’s being humble when he says that," Villaraigosa said of Obama during a brief visit to the convention floor here in Charlotte.

Villaraigosa did not answer a question from NBC News about John Burton, the chairman of the California Democratic Party who yesterday compared GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan to the Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels. 

Today, The Sacramento Bee reports that Burton went home to California for a root canal.

Updated at 4:30pm ET Iowa is crucial to President Barack Obama winning a second term and just in case the Iowa delegates at the Democratic convention in Charlotte, N.C., might forget that fact, even for a moment, an all-star cast of speakers is showing up at the Iowa delegation’s breakfasts this week to flatter them, exhort them and remind them of how important they are.

John Brecher / NBC News

Newark, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker speaks to Iowa delegates at their breakfast event prior to the Democratic National Convention on Monday, Sept. 3, in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The Iowa delegates gave rousing welcomes to mayors Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles and Cory Booker of Newark, N.J., Monday morning at the delegation’s breakfast.

Related -- First Thoughts: The enthusiasm gap

Noting that he had worked as a union organizer for 25 years before being elected to the California legislature, Villaraigosa said Democrats’ grass roots organization is the key to victory. “We’re going to be knocking on doors, we’re going to be calling voters; we know that Iowa is critical to this election and I hope to visit.”

In fact, the Los Angeles mayor will be the keynote speaker at the Iowa Democratic Party’s annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner on Oct. 20.  

Booker warned the delegates of the lack of fervor that cost Democrats the New Jersey governor’s race in 2009. “If we had the same kind of enthusiasm, the same kind of energy, the same kind of organizing, the same kind of voter turnout that we did in 2008, we would have easily won in 2009,” Booker said. “The point is very simple: it’s not about them, it is about us, it is about how well we organize, how much we go door to door.”

Booker mentioned to the Iowans that his great-grandparents moved to Iowa from Alabama and that his grandmother was born in Des Moines in 1918. Telling the delegates that the election has big consequences – such as who appoints the next Supreme Court justice – Booker again brought up his family roots in assessing the election’s impact: “What’s exciting to me is that just like my personal family history, it’s going to turn on the state of Iowa.”

John Brecher / NBC News

Sue Dvorsky, Chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, listens to Newark Mayor Cory Booker speak to Iowa delegates at their breakfast event prior to the Democratic National Convention on Monday in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Iowa is where it all began for Obama with his dramatic caucus win in 2008 and it might be where victory is decided on Nov. 6. The importance of the state’s six electoral votes was underscored again this week by the rival campaigns’ scheduling: Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan will be speaking at rallies in Adel and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Tuesday.

And Obama is heading back to Iowa the day after his acceptance speech to rally young voters at the University of Iowa – after just having campaigned in Sioux City and Urbandale on Saturday.

Iowa ranks sixth among the states in the amount of money being spent on TV ads by each side, behind Florida, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, and Colorado, according to NBC ad tracking data. The Obama campaign and Democratic outside groups have spent $22 million in Iowa so far, compared to $24 million spent by the Romney campaign and GOP outside groups.

Recommended: Over 800 Latino delegates ready to rally for Obama as Democratic convention begins today

Alluding to the enthusiasm gap that Booker warned against, delegate Dennis Roseman, a retired University of Iowa mathematics professor and an active and early Obama supporter in 2008, said that things today are different from four years ago when Obama won Iowa in the caucuses and again in November.

“Four years ago was very exciting, it was all very new, it was all about change and what’s possible,” Roseman said. “We didn’t have the depth of the economic problems that we are facing right now. Even though things are improving, people’s attitudes are somewhat negative, having suffered through a lot. So right now it’s a struggle, no doubt about it.”

He added, “We’re doing really well in our part of the state and there’s a lot of enthusiasm – but we have a big state and we have to really fight hard to stave off either complacency or a certain amount of negativism.”

A big student vote for Obama is vital. In 2008, Obama won 70 percent of the vote in Johnson County, home of the University of Iowa, with a margin of more than 30,000 votes over Republican John McCain.

Recommended: Obama courts labor voters in auto industry's footprint

Since Iowa is already a state with very high voter registration, Sue Dvorsky, chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, said the Democrats concentrate on adding new voters by registering college and university students “which can’t happen until they get back (to school in September) so now that effort is full-blown.”

Obama’s Friday campaign event at the University of Iowa will focus on college students “because we know that’s where our new registrants are,” Dvorsky said.

Republicans point to the 28,000 increase in active GOP voter registrations since 2008, but Dvorsky explained this by pointing to competitive GOP intraparty battles which had spurred interest among Republicans. “They’ve had three consecutive primaries. They had a very, very vigorous gubernatorial primary in 2010 that we didn’t have, then they had the (presidential) caucuses with multiple candidates and multiple winners that we didn’t have. And then they had a record number of primaries against their own (state legislature) incumbents – from the Right.”

As for the Republican advantage in voter registration (as of August), Dvorsky said she anticipated that when the Iowa Secretary of State’s office releases new numbers on Tuesday “we will have bitten into that substantially.”

She added that Republicans greatly improved their voter turnout effort in 2010, for example, “their vote by mail went by about 100 percent.”

But she portrays the Iowa GOP as divided among the Ron Paul forces, the Rick Santorum backers, and Mitt Romney’s supporters, calling it “a party that is still fairly fractured.”

Recommended: Some big-name Democrats will be skipping Charlotte

She also pointed to another motivation for Democrats to turn out on Election Day: the battle for control of the state Senate – the last line of defense for Democrats against legislation they oppose, since Gov. Terry Branstad is a Republican and the state House is Republican-controlled.

The Democrats now hold a one-seat majority in the state Senate. On Election Day, there will be 26 competitive state Senate elections.

“We believe we are in an existential position: we have (a) one seat (majority) in the Senate,” she said. “It must be retained. There is no option for us to fail.”

Asked about the Republicans’ great success in 2010 elections in Iowa and whether that’s a harbinger for this November, State Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal said, “You can point to 2010 and I can point to 2011 – last fall, a special election in a suburban district, Cedar Rapids, handpicked by the Republicans to pick up after appointing a Democratic state senator to the Iowa Utilities Board. They thought that was a seat they were pretty much guaranteed to get back” and create a tie in the state Senate.

But, Gronstal said, “We put together a great get-out-the-vote effort. We do that better than the Republicans in Iowa and we won that election handily in the end.”

Obama must rely on that same kind of get-out-the-vote effort on Nov. 6 to keep Iowa in his column.

The Democratic convention and trying to close the enthusiasm gap… Tonight’s speaking lineup is a nod to important blocs of the Obama coalition… Michelle Obama’s moment (she speaks around 10:30 pm ET)… Julian Castro’s moment, too (his keynote address comes after 10:00 pm)… Looking at the Dems’ three major objectives for the convention… Breaking down tonight’s speakers… And GOP continues its counterprogramming in Charlotte.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- If there's a theme to tonight's speaking lineup here at the first day of the Democratic convention, it's a nod to all the important voting and demographic blocs of the Obama coalition. Women? You have First Lady Michelle Obama, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and Lilly Ledbetter. Latinos? Keynote speaker Julian Castro and Rep. Xavier Becerra. African Americans? The first lady and Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx. Why is tonight's coalition night so important for Democrats? Because they are facing an enthusiasm gap -- at least compared to 2008 -- with these voting blocs. In the Aug. 2012 NBC/WSJ poll, just 52% of voters under 35 and only 49% of Latinos expressed high interest in the upcoming election, which was down about 20 points for both groups at this same point in ’08. That said, almost all voting segments in the poll -- Democrats and Republicans alike -- aren’t as interested as they were in 2008. So this is the opportunity that the Democratic convention represents for the Obama camp and Democrats: maybe a final chance to rekindle some of the 2008 magic. If Mitt Romney had to close his likeability gap at last week’s GOP convention, Barack Obama and the Democrats this week have to close the enthusiasm gap.

*** Fired up? Ready to go? Obama campaign officials say their voters are getting more excited (example: the 13,000 who turned out in Colorado over the weekend) and believe that 65,000 supporters filling the Bank of America Stadium on Thursday will reflect plenty of energy heading into November -- assuming, of course, that the weather cooperates that night. (Per NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, the Obama campaign is telling reporters that Thursday night at the football stadium will happen, rain or shine, unless there is a last-minute safety issue.) “You’ll see for sure enthusiasm coming out of the convention,” one official told First Read. Enough to propel Obama to victory in two months? We’ll find out…

Jessica Rinaldi / Reuters

Women listen as Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick speaks at CarolinaFest ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina September 3, 2012.

*** Michelle’s moment: Tonight’s two major primetimes speakers are First Lady Michelle Obama and San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro. The Obama campaign says that the first lady will serve as a character witness for President Obama, describing the tough decisions that her husband has made. The AP also notes how Michelle Obama has been perhaps her husband’s biggest defender on the campaign trail, as well as someone who has drawn contrasts with Mitt Romney, although without mentioning the GOP nominee’s name. “These days, Mrs. Obama’s speeches are peppered with references to the president’s upbringing in Hawaii, where he was raised by a single mother and his grandparents. She talks about the student loans he took out to pay for college and the years it took to pay them back.” And there isn’t a more popular Obama – the first lady’s fav/unfav rating in the July NBC/WSJ poll was 54%-26% (versus her husband’s 49%-43%).

*** Castro's moment: Prior to the first lady’s appearance, Castro will step up to one of the most prominent speaking slots in American politics when he delivers the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention tonight. The 37-year-old Harvard Law and Stanford grad will be the first Latino to deliver the address. He's largely unknown to a national audience, but he has shown an ability to deliver a strong speech that draws on his compelling personal story. The Obama campaign has watched Castro closely, made him a campaign co-chairman, and says he has been effective on the campaign trail for the president. In our August NBC/WSJ poll, Obama was leading Romney among Latinos, 63%-28%. But as mentioned above, just 49% of Latino voters were expressing a high level of interest in the upcoming election (compared with 82% for African Americans, 68% for whites, and 84% for seniors). By the way, the last time a Texas Democrat gave the keynote was Ann Richards – and the Democratic Party is hoping that, one day, Castro might win statewide office in the Lone Star  State.

*** The Democrats’ three objectives: In a briefing yesterday with NBC, Obama campaign officials said that the convention has three objectives. One, to present the economic choice between the Obama and Romney visions. Two, to paint where the country is today vs. where it had been, highlighting the tough decisions Obama made (like on health care and the auto bailout). And three, to make the case where the  country goes from here.  

 *** Tuesday’s convention schedule: Below are some of the major speakers for the first evening of the Democratic convention here in Charlotte, which gets gaveled in at 5:00 pm ET.

7:00 pm hour: Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Joe Kennedy III (whose speech is tied to a video tribute to the Kennedy family)
8:00 pm hour: Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybak, Rep. Jared Polis, House candidate Tammy Duckworth, Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chaffee (I), House Leader James Clyburn, and Rep. Xavier Becerra
9:00 pm hour: Former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, actor Kal Penn, Obama half-sister Maya Soetoro-Ng and brother-in-law Craig Robinson, Lilly Ledbetter, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick
10:00 pm hour: Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, First Lady Michelle Obama

*** On the trail today: Obama campaigns in Norfolk, VA at 12:35 pm ET… Paul Ryan stumps in Westlake, OH at 12:20 pm ET and Cedar Rapids at 5:10 pm ET

*** GOP counterprogramming: At 1:00 pm ET in Charlotte, Republicans Nikki Haley, John Sununu, Jason Chaffetz, and Tim Scott hold a press conference to counter today’s activities at the Dem convention. Meanwhile, after yesterday’s back-and-forth over “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” the Romney camp is pouncing on an interview that Obama gave to a Colorado Springs affiliate, in which gave himself an “incomplete” grade on the economy. Obama added in his response, “What I would say is the steps we’ve taken in saving the auto industry, in making sure that college is more affordable, and investing in clean energy and science … those are all of the things that we’re going to need to grow over the long term.”

Countdown to 1^st presidential debate: 29 days
Countdown to VP debate: 37 days
Countdown to 2^nd presidential debate: 42 days
Countdown to 3^rd presidential debate: 48 days
Countdown to Election Day: 63 days

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*** Tuesday's "The Daily Rundown" (live from Charlotte): Gov. Deval Patrick (D-MA), Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx (D), and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak on the official opening of the convention and expectations for tonight’s speakers… NBC’s Kristen Welker with a preview of the first lady’s moment in the spotlight tonight… NBC’s Craig Melvin with a look at how the 2012 outlook for African American voters in North Carolina compares to 2008… Latest campaign news and analysis with Politico’s Jonathan Martin, AP’s Liz Sidoti, Priorities USA Action’s Bill Burton and former Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR).

*** Tuesday’s “Jansing & Co.” line-up: MSNBC’s Chris Jansing interviews Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), TheGrio.com’s Perry Bacon, Roll Call’s Shira Toeplitz, former Santorum senior campaign adviser John Brabender, former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, and Democratic pollster and author Stan Greenberg.

*** Tuesday’s “MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts” line-up: MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts talks with Wisconsin Senate candidate Tammy Baldwin, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), and author of “The Obamas” Jodi Kantor. Power Panelists include Democratic Strategist Kiki McClean,  Politics and Public Policy President Michelle Bernard and Time Magazine’s Michael Scherer.

*** Tuesday’s “NOW with Alex Wagner” line-up: Alex Wagner’s guests include U.S. News & World Report Publisher Mort Zuckerman, New York Times Magazine Editor Hugo Lindgren, Politico’s Maggie Haberman, the Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart, and former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker. 

*** Tuesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: Anchoring from Charlotte, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews Obama senior campaign adviser Robert Gibbs, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA), former NH Gov. John Sununu, Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin, the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza and Karen Tumulty and Politico’s Jonathan Martin.

*** Tuesday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: MSNBC’s Tamron Hall interviews Dem strategist Chris Kofinis, GOP strategist Hogan Gidley, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the Daily Beasts’ Allison Samuels, Michael Smerconish, and the Washington Post’s Anne Kornblut.

“Michelle Obama rarely mentions Mitt Romney by name. But everything she says during this presidential campaign is meant to draw a contrast between her husband and his Republican challenger,” the AP writes. “The first lady will make her case to millions of Americans on Tuesday when she headlines the first night of the Democratic Party’s national convention, where two days later her husband will accept the party’s presidential nomination for a second time. Her high-profile appearance underscores her key role in his re-election bid: chief defender of his character and leader in efforts to validate the direction he is taking the country. Once the reluctant political spouse, she has embraced that mission to sell her husband anew throughout the summer while raising money for the campaign and speaking at rallies in battleground states.”

The New York Times’ Jodi Kantor: “Behind the scenes, Mrs. Obama’s advocacy for her husband can be so forceful that speechwriters have had to tone it down over the years for public presentation, aides say. But despite the scathing critiques of Republicans that she had been known to deliver in private, her advisers believe that she is most potent when she does not appear overtly political and that she comes across best as a gracious noncombatant in the red-and-blue wars. So at the convention, they say, she will try to present herself as a caring, wifely figure and appear above the partisan fray.”

“The First Lady has come a long way since her convention address in Denver four years ago, when she was tasked with convincing a reluctant public that she was more than some of her brow-furrowing words,” the New York Daily News writes. 

San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro delivers the keynote speech tonight. First Read previewedwhat he might say Aug. 1. 

“Henry Cisneros. Antonio Villaraigosa. Bill Richardson,” the Daily Beast’s Romano writes. “It’s a safe bet that Julian Castro, the San Antonio mayor and rising Latino star set to deliver the keynote address Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention, remembers these names well. Once upon a time, each of them—Cisneros, Villaraigosa, Richardson—was touted in Beltway circles as a future leader of the Democratic Party: the Hispanic politician who would finally become a national favorite by tapping into the vast (and growing) power of the Spanish-speaking electorate while displaying the kind of crossover appeal that often eludes lesser talents. Maybe one of them would even become the first Latino president. And then they flamed out. … So as Castro, 37, prepares to step into the spotlight in Charlotte, an opportunity that observers are already likening to Obama’s turn at the 2004 convention, it’s worth asking whether he can avoid the Curse of Next Big Latino Democrat—and follow a path more like the president’s instead.”

Politico: “Since becoming San Antonio’s mayor in 2009, Julian Castro has soared into prominence as one of the nation’s young Hispanic leaders. He is repeatedly mentioned as a potential Democratic candidate for Texas governor or even president, talk that will likely escalate after his Tuesday night prime-time address in Charlotte, N.C.”

But this is the part some conservatives are focused on: “Some would say the mayor has had a swift and charmed ascent. But his mother, whose own political activism on behalf of Hispanics when her boys were young drew hate mail and, she says, the attention of the Justice Department, knows her sons' rise is evidence of Hispanics' growing and long overdue political power,” FOX News Latino writes. “ ‘They called us militant, but our way of doing things was through political ends,’ Rosie Castro said of her fight for Mexican-American rights in the 1970s. ‘Not through guns, not through overthrowing the government, but through the political process.’”

NBC Latino: “As Latinos take center stage tonight – San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro will be the first Hispanic to give the keynote address at the Democratic convention – Latino Democrats say the stakes are high.”

Jordan Fabian: “Castro’s personal background shares distinct similarities with that of the president. A single mother raised him and he took advantage of affirmative action admissions policies to attend the nation’s top institutions of higher education. Castro graduated from Stanford University before earning a law degree from Harvard, the same law school that the president attended. The Castros grew up in San Antonio’s west side, a relatively poor neighborhood that remains heavily Latino. Their father, activist Jesse Guzman, and their mother, a schoolteacher, separated when the kids were just eight years old. Rosie Castro raised her two children with the help of her mother, a Mexican immigrant who dropped out of elementary school and worked as a maid, a cook, and a babysitter.”

The AP’s Oreskes on Obama’s challenge this week: “There are a lot of very angry people in the country, out of work or living on less. But anger is not the dominant political sentiment among the voters likely to swing this presidential election. It is, instead, disappointment… A key part of Obama’s central argument is that, without him, these last four years would have been worse. There is considerable evidence this is true. … But it’s a hard sell to compare what a report says and what palpably is 

He also notes that Obama has higher stakes in his convention than Romney did: “[I]t is precisely because the country knows so much about Obama that he has the higher hill to climb. That’s the downside of being the incumbent. It will take more than Joe Biden’s bumper sticker for Obama to assuage two very different groups of disappointed voters — liberals who wish Obama had done more and swing voters who wish what he had done had worked more.”

“Former employees of companies owned by Bain Capital, the private equity firm founded by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, will speak at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte this week, according to an Obama campaign official,” the Boston Globe writes, adding, “The Obama campaign official said the speakers will offer personal testimonies that resemble those featured in campaign ads, in which laid-off workers have talked about losing jobs at Bain-owned companies.

Planned Parenthood Action Fund says it’s holding a “Women are Watching” rally during the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte this afternoon as part of its campaign to educate voters about what’s at stake for women and women’s health this election. The lineup includes: Planned Parenthood Action Fund President, Cecile Richards, Mayor Cory Booker, Congresswoman Gwen Moore, and Georgetown Law Center graduate and women's health activist, Sandra Fluke.

“Supporters of both presidential candidates used extreme language to criticize the other side over Labor Day weekend, with California’s Democratic Party chairman likening GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan’s speech at last week’s Republican convention to Nazi propaganda and actor Chuck Norris comparing President Obama’s re-election to ‘the triumph of evil,’” the Boston Globe writes.

A Colorado TV reporter asked Obama in an interview, per USA Today: "Your party says you inherited a bad situation -- you've had three and a half years to fix it -- what grade would you give yourself so far for doing that?"

Replied Obama: "You know I would say incomplete ... but what I would say is the steps that we have taken in saving the auto industry, in making sure that college is more affordable and investing in clean energy and science and technology and research, those are all the things that we are going to need to grow over the long term."

The Obama campaign is out with another anti-Romney video focusing on “Romney’s tax loopholes.”

Here’s how AP sums up Obama’s events yesterday: “President Barack Obama insisted on Monday that the federal government can help Americans in crisis, whether they’re autoworkers fearful that their company will disappear or Gulf Coast residents picking up the pieces after the devastation of Hurricane Isaac.”

There were a lot of football metaphors from President Obama on the trail yesterday.

The Washington Post’s fact-checker takes issue with Biden’s recent claim that Bain & Co. received a bailout costing taxpayers $10 million. “At issue was a $38 million loan made to Bain by a failed bank, the Bank of New England, and the FDIC’s efforts to collect on the loan. Ultimately, the loan was reduced by $10 million but the money was made up through assessments on FDIC-member banks. As we noted: “That’s right — no taxpayer money is involved. The FDIC prides itself on not taking taxpayer funds.”

More: “We had previously said the use of the term ‘bailout’ was a stretch, worthy of a Pinocchio, but the vice president takes it to a new level by claiming Romney “cost the government and American taxpayers $10 million.” No matter how you parse it, that’s simply not correct.”

“Mitt Romney raised $100 million in August, his campaign told bundlers last week in Tampa, according to Politico,” per Political Wire. We’ve yet to receive any confirmation on this amount from the Romney campaign.

"Before Mitt Romney retired from Bain Capital, the enormously profitable investment firm he founded, he made sure to lock in his gains, both realized and expected, for years to come," the Washington Post reports,” via Political Wire. “He did so, in part, the way millions of other Americans do -- with the tax benefits of an individual retirement account. But he was able to turbocharge the impact of those advantages and other tax breaks in his severance package from Bain in a way that few but the country's super-rich can ever hope to do." 

GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Just across the state from where the Democratic National Convention is set to begin tomorrow, Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan warned North Carolinians not to believe what President Obama says in Charlotte. 

“Let me quote President Obama four years ago: ‘If you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.’ Ladies and gentleman, that is exactly what Barack Obama is doing today. You see, the president has no record to run on,” Ryan said here on the campus of East Carolina University. “In fact, every president since the Great Depression who asked Americans to send them into a second term, could say that you are better off today than you were four years ago -- except for Jimmy Carter and for President Barack Obama.” 

The Wisconsin congressman added, “So when you take a look at what we are going to hear in Charlotte today, the president can say a lot of things, and he will. But he can’t tell you that you are better off. Simply put, the Jimmy Carter years look like the good old days compared to where we are right now.” 

The GOP is in a full-force bracketing effort down in the Tar Heel state asking “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”  

Vice President Joe Biden was originally planning on bracketing the RNC convention in Tampa, Fla., last week, but his plans were canceled after the threat of Hurricane Issac. 

Ryan urged the couple thousand people in Greenville who turned out on Labor Day to hear him speak not to fall for the Democrats' message in November. 

“We’re going to hear a lot of words from Charlotte this week. But here’s the kind of words we’re not gonna hear: We’re not going to hear evidence and facts about how people are better off. You see ,the president cannot run on this record. He’s run out of ideas,” he said. “And so that is why he’s going to be running a campaign based on envy and division, based on frustration and anger. Hope and change has now become attack and blame.” 

A new Elon University poll released Monday, finds Mitt Romney has a slight lead in North Carolina with 47% supporting him compared with 43% backing Obama. The Republican VP nominee says this state could make the difference on Nov. 6. 

“Friends, North Carolina is crucial. Eastern North Carolina is crucial. This is one of those kinds of elections where a handful of states might make the determination not just of who your next governor is going to be or just who your next president is going to be but what kind of land your kids will inherit,” Ryan said inside ECU’s student recreation center. “This is it and we can do this.”

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Mitt Romney would be elected president if the election were held today, the Republican National Committee's chairman boldly predicted Monday.

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus predicted a Romney victory based on projected wins in several swing states (polls of which are less definitively optimistic for Romney).

"I feel real good that if the election was held today, we’d be winning today. If the election is tied, we’re going to win the election," Priebus said during a press conference today kicking off the GOP’s "rapid response" effort during the Democratic National Convention.

"Independents are not going to suddenly have an epiphany," Priebus continued, "and decide that everything is great."

Pressed by a reporter on which states Romney would win if the election were held today, Priebus doubled down.

"For one, I think we win Wisconsin today," Priebus said of his home state, adding: "I think we win Florida today. I think we win Virginia. I think that we win Iowa."

Priebus said Romney would be close in Ohio, a state he called a "toss-up."

Yet demonstrating the GOP’s not-so easy electoral map in November, Romney winning Wisconsin, Florida, Virginia, and Iowa would still leave him short of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency, especially if Romney doesn’t carry Ohio.

The GOP will hold press conferences several times daily this week, inside a television studio nestled in the basement of Charlotte’s NASCAR museum.

"Today, the thrill and pixie dust of Barack Obama’s presidency is gone. Americans feel no hope, and have seen a change for the worst," Priebus told reporters. "Democrats are dispirited.  Enthusiasm is clearly on the Republican side."

Priebus was joined today by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT). Other officials slated to participate in the GOP effort here include Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

TOLEDO, OH -- President Barack Obama decried Republican opponent Mitt Romney's opposition to the 2009 auto industry bailout before a crowd full of autoworkers gathered here for Labor Day.

Surrounded by some 3,000 supporters -- many of whom were sporting United Auto Worker (UAW) t-shirts -- in a high school gym, Obama said he had made sure to stop in Toledo, a major auto industry hub as part of his campaign across the country in the run-up to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

"I wanted to stop here in Toledo to spend this day with you," he said as the crowd applauded. "A day that belongs to the working men and women of America."

The bailout was first initiated by President George W. Bush, and won the support of some Midwestern Republicans, including the vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan. Romney penned an op-ed at the time, infamously titled "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt," that the Obama campaign has used against the GOP presidential candidate.

"You remember that?" Obama asked the crowd as they booed.

He also decried Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich for claiming he had led a turnaround in this economically ravaged swing state; that turnaround wouldn't be the case if not for the administration's policies, Obama said.

"I guess the theory was it’s all the governor’s doing. But I think we need to refresh his memory. Because a lot of those jobs are auto worker jobs like yours," Obama said.

Kasich has previously downplayed the positive effect of the bailout in his state, arguing in July on Meet the Press that it wasn’t responsible for as many auto jobs as Democrats might claim.

Obama's appearance here marked an effort to court Ohio's influential labor vote, which could make a big difference for the president in his bid for a second term; Obama won 58 of Ohio's union members in 2008.

And the importance of the auto industry to Ohio’s economy -- according to a February 2011 state government study, 7.5 percent of economic activity here relates to auto production -- meant Toledo was the perfect place for Obama to compare his position on the auto bailout with Romney’s.

The president also seized a statement Romney made in Cincinnati on Saturday, when the former Massachusetts governor called for a “new coach” that would bring America a “winning season.”

Reacting to that comment, the president went off on his own extended football analogy, seeming to suggest to his presidential rival that Romney not tread on the home turf of the nation’s best-known sports fan.

"After their convention Gov. Romney came here to Ohio and he said he’s going to be the coach that leads America to a winning season," Obama said. "The problem is everybody’s already seen his economic playbook."

Then he explained how Romney would spend the next three “downs” destroying the economic recovery by raising taxes, which he deemed “unnecessary roughness,” calling an audible by undoing financial regulations, and finally calling for a Hail Mary on the third down by “ending Medicare as we know it.”

“There’s a flag on the play! Loss of up to an additional 64 hundred dollars a year on the same benefits that you get now!” he shouted. “I’ve got one piece of advice for you about the Romney/Ryan game plan, Ohio. It won’t work! It won’t win the game!”

“You don’t need that coach,” he concluded.

The event in Toledo concluded Obama’s political events on this four-day swing; he headed to Louisiana after the event to tour the damage from Hurricane Isaac in St. John the Baptist Parish and talk to officials there.

DETROIT -- Amid a GOP-driven effort asking whether Americans are better off than they were four years ago, Vice President Joe Biden emphatically declared that "America is better off" now than at the end of the Bush administration.

"Folks, let me say something to you, say it to the press," Biden said at the conclusion of his remarks at a Labor Day rally here in the Motor City. "America is better off today than they left us when they left!"

The question, a staple of elections in which an incumbent is seeking re-election, has developed into a small media imbroglio since surrogates for President Barack Obama appeared hesitant this weekend to give a positive answer.

Democratic Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley answered that question with a "no"; Obama advisers David Axelrod and David Plouffe offered nuanced responses but not a flat "yes."

Republicans pounced in the meanwhile, and the GOP held a press conference today in Charlotte, the site of the Democratic National Convention, to push that very question.

Biden's statement makes him the highest-ranking Obama surrogate to weigh in on the back and forth. 

Repeating his frequent "bumper sticker" mantra, Biden said in Detroit: "If you want to know whether we're better off, I got a bumper sticker for you: Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive!"

Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg said in response: "Today, Vice President Biden claimed that Americans are better off than they were four years ago, directly contradicting what President Obama and his campaign surrogates have said. The truth is that the middle class has been crushed in the Obama economy."

Biden, who spoke to several hundred supporters at the AFL-CIO-sponsored event, focused heavily on labor issues in his remarks and blasted Romney for opposing the Obama-backed bailout of the auto industry.

"Folks, you can't say you're going to create jobs in the United States of America when you were willing to let 1m jobs go under by the liquidation of the automobile plants he suggested," Biden said.

He also went after Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, repeating a line first debuted yesterday in Pennsylvania to attack the Wisconsin congressman's Medicare plans.

"We're talking about making sure to protect Medicare. They're talking about creating an entire new system, 'Vouchercare,'" he said, warning "if they win, people are in trouble."

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The choice of location for any political convention speaks volumes about election-year strategy, and the goal for Democrats in choosing North Carolina was, put simply, to stay on offense – expanding President Barack Obama’s path to a second term and building a permanent foothold in a southern state.

The battleground for the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House in November encompasses a number of states but, for Obama, winning here in November might mean putting the presidency out of reach for Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

“If Romney doesn't win North Carolina, he's not going to be the president,” said Dallas Woodhouse, the state director for Americans for Prosperity, the economically conservative group associated with billionaire brothers, David and Charles Koch.

The president won the Tar Heel State in 2008, making him the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry North Carolina since Jimmy Carter in 1976. But Obama only won by 14,000 votes – a relatively thin margin out of 2.2 million total ballots cast – stressing the extent to which North Carolina still seems like more natural turf for Republicans in a presidential election.

Related -- First Thoughts: Feeling good

The 2008 election saw unprecedented voter turnout among African-Americans and students in the state’s “Research Triangle,” a geographic cluster in the northern part of North Carolina, anchored by several major universities. Part of the question in 2012 is whether Obama can recapture the enthusiasm of four years ago.

“We know that it’s going to be close, and it was last time,” said an Obama campaign official in North Carolina, who asked to speak on background in order to offer a better assessment of the race.

The most recent polling showed the race here close, with Romney holding a four-point lead in the latest Elon University/Charlotte Observer poll published Monday.

As with Romney last week in Tampa, where Republicans had hoped their convention would have a pronounced and positive effect on voters in Florida, Democrats are looking to leave Charlotte in better shape for the fall.

Making matters more difficult for Obama are troubles within the state's Democratic Party. Allegations of sexual harassment against a state party official, a struggling economy, and Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue’s somewhat surprising decision against seeking a second term are among the factors that worsen matters for Democrats here. But Perdue was also far from popular, and her decision against seeking a second term arguably cleaned the slate for state Democrats.

“Voters are voting on the president and his record and Mitt Romney and his lack of a record,” the Obama official argued. “So the state party has had no impact on our organization.”

This state is nonetheless battleground turf. North Carolina is among the nine “toss up” states on the NBC News battleground map. The state ranks fourth in total ad spending, according to NBC’s ad-tracking sources, underscoring how competitive the battle for this state’s 15 electoral votes has become.

The Obama campaign and its supporters have spent $22 million in North Carolina so far this cycle, versus $34 million by the Romney campaign and outside groups and super PACs who back the Republican presidential candidate.

That number is only likely to grow thanks to additional advertising dollars being sent into the state to turn voters out to the polls, not just on Election Day, but during early voting periods, as well.

The turnout operation is especially important given the need for Obama to replicate the voter numbers that helped put him over the top in 2008.

“He had a level of excitement that was unprecedented, and I don't see it this time,” said Woodhouse. “When you only win by 14,000 votes, it only takes a small loss of enthusiasm for things to go the other way.”

Recommended -- Poll: Romney's convention speech gets low marks

Putting the Democratic National Convention here in Charlotte is, in no small part, an effort to recapture and harness those passions from 2008, especially in North Carolina. George W. Bush actually won Mecklenburg County – home to Charlotte – in 2000, and Republicans won the Raleigh area from 1996 through 2004. Obama won those areas decisively in 2008, and he drove up his numbers with good turnout in Fayetteville and surrounding areas to the south.

The Obama campaign boasts of having an organizational advantage associated with keeping an "Organizing for America" office open in North Carolina for the span of the president’s first term, and they claim to have gotten a good response to a volunteering initiative that distributed tickets to the president’s speech on the final night of the convention.

And convention organizers are hopeful that they can use this week’s festivities – including Monday’s “Carolinafest,” an event open to the public featuring entertainers like James Taylor, and Thursday’s stadium acceptance speech by Obama – to both recruit volunteers and win over voters.

Mladen Antonov / AFP - Getty Images

Paintings of President Barack Obama are for sale at a street fair in Charlotte, North Carolina, September 3, 2012.

One convention planner argued that history shows a mixed record for candidates and the site of their conventions; the Obama team believes how they use their convention is just as important as where they place it.

"Where you plop down your convention really doesn't matter, unless you use it wisely,” said the convention planner.

Winning North Carolina – or even staying competitive here – would bode well for the president’s bid for a second term. Obama doesn’t need to win the state, and has plenty of other paths to victory without it. Romney’s math, his ability to secure the 270 necessary electoral votes to win the White House, would be far more difficult without North Carolina. The mere fact that North Carolina is even in the list of competitive states demonstrates the advantages Obama has and the hurdles Romney faces.

Moreover, if Obama is even threatening victory here by Election Day, it will have meant that Romney was forced to spend resources on winning a state President George W. Bush won easily in 2004 despite then-North Carolina Sen. John Edwards being on the Democratic ticket.

A new Gallup poll shows that 38% of national adults rated Mitt Romney’s convention speech as either excellent or good -- that's the lowest percentage since Gallup began tracking this question in 1996. 

The other past convention speeches:
58% said Barack Obama’s ’08 speech was excellent or good
52% said the same of John Kerry’s ’04 speech
52% for Bob Dole’s ’96 speech
51% for Al Gore’s ’00 speech
51% for George W. Bush’s ’00 speech
49% for Bush’s ’04 speech
47% for John McCain’s 08 speech

Joe Skipper / Reuters

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney takes the stage to formally accept the presidential nomination during the final session of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, August 30, 2012.

The Gallup poll also found that 40% of national adults said the GOP’s convention made them more likely to vote for Romney, while 38% said it made them less likely.

GREENVILLE, NC –- Paul Ryan will head west for a weeklong swing through several states he's yet to visit since being tapped as Mitt Romney's running mate.

Starting Tuesday, the Republican vice presidential candidate will begin slowly working his way across the country before wrapping up a seven-day trip in the Pacific Northwest early next week.

A campaign aide said that Ryan's main focus "will largely -- though not entirely -- focused on fundraising” and some public campaign events may be intermixed. 

While his running mate begins debate prep in Vermont, the Wisconsin congressman will appear in two Midwestern states Tuesday. He will first hold a rally in Cleveland, OH – marking his fifth visit to the Buckeye State -- before heading to Iowa, where he will campaign in Cedar Rapids and then Des Moines on Wednesday.

Wednesday night, Ryan will start his fundraising streak with a dinner event in Salt Lake City, Utah, his first trip to the state since begin announced as Romney’s running mate on Aug 11th. Tickets range from $1,000 to $25,000.

Though the schedule is still fluid, the House Budget Committee chairman is slated to head to California for a couple days and would attend, among other events, a luncheon at a private home in Fresno, CA on Saturday.

On Monday, Sept. 10, Ryan will visit two new states in the Pacific Northwest: Oregon and Washington.

He will begin his day with a small, high-dollar fundraiser in Portland, OR that will benefit the RNC Victory fund. Early afternoon, there is another larger fundraiser – with two-tiers for prices of tickets – specifically for the Romney campaign.

A source in the Beaver State notes they don’t anticipate Ryan or Romney making their way back to Oregon again before the Nov. 6 election.

Ryan will conclude his Monday with at least one fundraiser in the Seattle, WA area.

Ryan’s swing to the Pacific Coast takes him deep into Democratic territory. In 2008, California, Washington, and Oregon all went overwhelmingly for President Barack Obama.

The Romney campaign has nonetheless done very well raising money out West this cycle. Romney himself just did a swing out in California at the end of July, visiting San Francisco and Irvine. The campaign would not confirm how much they hope to raise during this upcoming week while the VP nominee is holding events.

Dems feeling good heading into their convention… But feeling good isn’t the same thing as being in good shape… Obama camp tries to change the “Are you better off?” question to “Are you going to be better off tomorrow?”… The past vs. the future… Disappointment vs. achievement… Breaking down this week’s convention schedule, as well as the GOP counterprogramming… Romney ahead in NC, per Elon poll… Obama stumps in OH and heads to New Orleans, while Ryan campaigns in Greenville, NC… And Akin defenders invoke Giffords to whack Rove.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Heading into their convention here this week, the Obama campaign and Democrats are feeling pretty good after Tampa. The polls -- see Gallup, for example -- suggest that Mitt Romney got little to no bounce from the GOP convention, at least so far. Romney’s speech, while addressing his likeability and gender gaps, is still being criticized for what it omitted. (Here’s the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page’s verdict from over the weekend: Romney and Paul Ryan “promised to help the middle class, but they never explained other than in passing how they would do it.”) And then there was the whole Clint Eastwood debacle. So Democrats are feeling good, but feeling good isn’t the same as being in good shape. Indeed, the presidential race remains close and competitive. And all the shortcomings from last week only put pressure on the Democrats to do better.

*** Trying to change the question: “Are you better off than you were four years?” That’s the question that Republicans are raising this week, and it’s one that Democrats have been unable to definitively answer (see Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and top Obama campaign officials yesterday). So the Obama camp and Democrats have been trying to change the question around to this: “Are you going to be better off tomorrow, and who is best positioned to get you there?” According to Obama campaign officials, that question will be the primary theme of this week’s Democratic convention, which kicks off in earnest beginning tomorrow. It’s something that President Obama touched on in his first campaign rally at Ohio State University in May. “Will we better off if more Americans get a better education? That's the question… Will we better off if we start doing some nation-building right here at home? That's the question. Will we be better off if we bring down our deficit without gutting the very things we need to grow?” This where-we-need-to-go question is also the subject of a brand-new Obama TV ad. “Romney hits the middle class harder and gives millionaires an even bigger break,” the ad goes. “Is that the way forward for America?”

*** The past vs. the future: As we pointed out last week, Mitt Romney’s nostalgic-sounding convention speech, as well as his refusal to differentiate his policies from the Bush administration’s, gave the Obama campaign an opening to talk about the future this week. And it gave them an additional opening to argue that Romney represents the past. Hence Obama’s line on Saturday that viewers might as well have watched last week’s GOP convention “on a black-and-white TV." Or Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s comment on “Meet the Press” yesterday that Romney’s speech amounted to “Groundhog Day.” So here’s how the race is shaping with Election Day nearly two months from today: The Romney camp is focused on the past (litigating the last four years and promising to “restore the promise of America”), while the Obama camp is focused on arguing about the future (“Forward”). By the way, it’s worth noting that after Democrats looked afraid of answering the are-you-better-off-than-you-were-four-years-ago question, Deputy Obama Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter answered “yes” to the question on “TODAY” this morning, as did O’Malley. It was probably a realization that yesterday’s dodges weren’t all that productive and might have done some damage.

David Zalubowski / AP

President Barack Obama waves as he walks on stage during campaign stop on the campus of the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colo., on Sunday, Sept. 2, 2012.

*** Disappointment vs. achievement: Out of all the messages in Mitt Romney’s acceptance speech last week, this one might have been his most effective: Obama has been a disappointment. “I wish President Obama had succeeded because I want America to succeed. But his promises gave way to disappointment and division,” Romney said. This “disappointment” theme has been the subject of numerous GOP TV ads this cycle (here and here and here), and even a New York Times piece late last week. But to counter the theme, Democrats this week will point to the achievements during the first three and a half years of the Obama administration. The end of the Iraq war and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” The enactment -- no matter their imperfections -- of health-care and financial reform. The stimulus and auto bailout that stopped the economy’s free-fall. And the death of Osama bin Laden. As Emanuel said on “Meet the Press” yesterday, “If people want to know about the first term, very simple: General Motors is alive and well and Osama bin Laden is not. And that's what got done.”

*** Failing to change Washington: But here’s one key promise on which Obama failed to deliver: change Washington and move past all the political fights of the past (on the role of government, social issues, etc.). This is the subject of a terrific piece by the Washington Post’s Dan Balz. “Instead of bipartisanship, there is polarization as deep as it has been in modern times. Instead of cooperation, there is confrontation. Instead of civility, there is rudeness. The political system seems frozen and more resistant to compromise than ever.” And Balz’s article traces who’s to blame for this state of politics -- Dems say Republicans never cooperated from the outset, while GOPers fire back that Obama and the Democrats tried to ram down a partisan agenda. And the piece asks the question: Would Obama’s re-election change things? That’s one question Obama needs to answer on Thursday…

*** This week’s schedule: Here are the major speakers for the three nights of the Democratic convention here in Charlotte:
Tuesday: Former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, and First Lady Michelle Obama
Wednesday: Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, Sandra Fluke, California AG Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, and Bill Clinton
Thursday: Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, Dr. Jill Biden, Vice President Joe Biden, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, and President Obama

*** The GOP’s counterprogramming activities: Republicans will be out in full force here in Charlotte this week. Democrats had planned to do the same thing in Tampa, but Isaac largely scrapped that. So you have VP nominee Paul Ryan campaigning in nearby Greenville, NC. Also, at 1:00 pm ET in Charlotte, RNC Chair Reince Priebus and Rep. Jason Chaffetz hold a press conference unveiling the GOP’s “Obama Isn't Working' Rapid Response Center.” And NBC’s Jamie Novogrod confirms that Republicans Nikki Haley, Marco Rubio, and Bob McDonnell will traveling to Charlotte, too.

*** Romney ahead in NC: Romney leads in North Carolina 47%-43%, according to a new Elon University poll out today, the day the Democratic National Convention here begins. “One reason for Romney’s edge: By a margin of 52 percent to 39 percent, North Carolina voters say he would do a better job handling the economy,” the Charlotte Observer writes. The poll also found that Obama doesn’t enjoy the same support among women in North Carolina that he does elsewhere and nationally. Among men, Romney leads by 12, but among women, the candidates are tied.

*** On the trail today: Obama gives a Labor Day speech in Toledo, OH at 12:30 pm ET and then heads to New Orleans to inspect the damage from Hurricane Isaac… Vice President Biden holds a rally in Detroit, MI… Romney is down, but Ryan holds his aforementioned rally in Greenville, NC at 1:20 pm.

*** On the trail tomorrow: Obama holds a campaign event in Norfolk, VA at 12:35 pm ET… Ryan campaigns in Cedar Rapids, IA at 2:30 pm.

*** Akin defenders invoke Giffords to whack Rove: Did the GOP establishment lose the high ground after Karl Rove reportedly told attendees at a fundraiser: "We should sink Todd Akin. If he's found mysteriously murdered, don't look for my whereabouts!"? Note how Akin defenders pounced on the comment -- they invoked the Jan. 2011 shooting of Gabby Giffords. “In the age of Gabby Giffords, it is not a joke to say that a member of Congress ought to get murdered,” Newt Gingrich said on “Meet the Press” yesterday. Mike Huckabee said something similar, per CNN: "In light of the attempted assassination of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, the remark was disturbing."

Countdown to 1^st presidential debate: 30 days
Countdown to VP debate: 38 days
Countdown to 2^nd presidential debate: 43 days
Countdown to 3^rd presidential debate: 49 days
Countdown to Election Day: 64 days

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*** Monday's "The Daily Rundown" (live from Charlotte): Convention expectations with Obama Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter, Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC), Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D-MT), and RNC Chairman Reince Priebus… msnbc’s Chris Matthews on tonight’s 10 pm premiere of his documentary “Barack Obama: Making History”… NBC’s Ron Mott on the road with Ryan in North Carolina and NBC’s Kristen Welker in Ohio with President Obama… Latest 2012 headlines with TIME’s Michael Scherer, AP’s Beth Fouhy, The Washington Post’s Dan Balz, Center for American Progress’ Daniella Gibbs Leger, former DNC spokeswoman/msnbc’s Karen Finney, Democratic strategist Chris Kofinis, NY1’s Errol Louis and Salon.com/msnbc’s Steve Kornacki.

*** Monday’s “Jansing & Co.” line-up: MSNBC’s Chris Jansing interviews former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, the Huffington Post’s Ryan Grim, American Urban Radio’s April Ryan, former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, and former DC Schools Chancellor & CEO & Founder of StudentsFirst Michelle Rhee.

*** Monday’s “MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts” line-up: MSNBC’S Thomas Roberts talks with Rep. Melvin Watts (D-NC), MSNBC’S Melissa Harris Perry live from Charlotte, RNC Communications Director Sean Spicer, and former. Biden Chief Economic Advisor Jared Bernstein.  TheGrio.Com’s Joy-Ann Reid, BET Columnist Keith Boykin and Republican strategist Susan Del Percio join the Power Panel.

*** Monday’s “NOW with Alex Wagner” line-up: Alex Wagner’s guests include Bloomberg View’s Jonathan Alter, the New Yorker’s Kelefa Sanneh, former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D), the Huffington Post’s Sam Stein, former State Dept. Spokesman P.J. Crowley, and Foreign Policy Magazine Editor in Chief Susan Glasser

*** Monday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: Anchoring from Charlotte, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Gov. Bev Perdue (D-NC), former RNC Chairman Michael Steele, Charlie Cook, Politico’s Maggie Haberman, the Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart and NBC’s Ron Mott travelling with Paul Ryan.

*** Monday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: MSNBC’s Tamron Hall interviews the Washington Post’ Eugene Robinson and Anne Kornblut, as well as Dem strategist Chris Koffinis.

Romney leads in North Carolina 47-43%, according to a new Elon University poll out today, the day the Democratic National Convention here begins.

“One reason for Romney’s edge: By a margin of 52 percent to 39 percent, North Carolina voters say he would do a better job handling the economy,” the Charlotte Observer writes. The poll also found that Obama doesn’t enjoy the same support among women in North Carolina that he does elsewhere and nationally. Among men, Romney leads by 12, but among women, the candidates are tied.

Obama’s out with a new ad, hitting Romney on his tax plan. Here’s the script: “The middle class is carrying a heavy load in America, but Mitt Romney doesn’t see it. Under the Romney plan, a middle-class family will pay an average of up to $2,000 more a year in taxes, while at the same time, giving multi-millionaires like himself a $250,000 tax cut. So, Romney hits the middle class harder and gives millionaires an even bigger break. Is that the way forward for America?”

“President Obama wants to make it clear that, in his own words, ‘I am a huge Clint Eastwood fan.’ ‘He is a great actor, and an even better director,’ the president said in an interview with USA Today aboard Air Force One, on his way to campaign rallies in Iowa Saturday. ‘I think the last few movies that he's made have been terrific.’” And: “Was he offended? ‘One thing about being president or running for president — if you're easily offended, you should probably choose another profession.’ Obama said with a smile.” At the DNC, "I think we'll be playing this pretty straight," Obama said.

“National political conventions used to be about just two things: Nominate a presidential ticket, then sell it to the American electorate with a big TV show,” the Charlotte Observer writes. “This year, there’s a third goal: Win North Carolina’s 15 electoral votes – and perhaps a second term in the White House – by using the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte as a campaign organizing tool.”

“Democrats plan to put their convention spotlight on foreign policy this week, praising President Obama’s signature achievements overseas and portraying Mitt Romney’s views as misguided and dangerously confrontational, according to senior campaign officials,” the Boston Globe writes.

“With the spotlight moving away from his Republican challenger, President Obama needs to take advantage of the Democratic convention in Charlotte this week to draw sharp policy differences with Mitt Romney and frame a crystal-clear choice for voters heading into the closing weeks of the campaign, a group of top Democrats surveyed by the Globe said,” the Globe also writes.

“In his warm-up for the Democratic National Convention, President Barack Obama is tangling with a couple of rivals, only one named Mitt. The other is voter apathy, especially among the young,” AP writes.

“Barreling through the presidential campaign’s competitive states, President Barack Obama will detour deep in the South on Labor Day, long enough to offer a presence and promises of help to those flooded out by Hurricane Isaac,” AP writes. “Obama will mix politics and presidential empathy on a holiday traditionally known as an election-year turning point, with summer closing and more voters paying attention to the race for the White House. Obama shortened his campaign schedule after Isaac pounded the Gulf Coast, but he will still rally the labor vote in Ohio on Monday.”O

“New York’s attorney general is investigating whether executives at Bain Capital, the private equity firm founded by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, improperly avoided paying $200 million in federal income taxes, according to a report by The New York Times,” per the Boston Globe. “More than a dozen firms are under investigation by the attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, who has subpoenaed documents that would show whether some fund management fees were converted to fund investments. Profits on investments are taxed at a much lower rate than management fees, which count as earned income.”

The Wall Street Journal editorial page, via Political Wire: "The immediate media consensus, especially on the political right, seems to be that Mitt Romney 'did what he had to do' in his GOP convention speech Thursday. He repaired an image battered by Obama attack ads, showed he appreciates women, defended Bain Capital and criticized President Obama more in sorrow than in anger. On to the White House! Well, maybe. Mr. Romney's speech did hit all of those essential points, but the one thing it didn't do constitutes a major political gamble. Neither he nor the entire GOP convention made a case for his economic policy agenda. He and Paul Ryan promised to help the middle class, but they never explained other than in passing how they would do it.”

About 30 million tuned into Romney’s speech, down from 39 million who watched McCain’s four years ago, per Nielsen (via Political Wire).

The Romney campaign put out a 2:34 wrap video of its convention.

Paul Ryan’s in trouble with the fact again – this time over claiming that he ran a sub-three-hour marathon. “Under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something,” he told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. That drew skepticism from the running community and Ryan had to admit that was false. He said in a statement, per the New York Times: “The race was more than 20 years ago, but my brother Tobin — who ran Boston last year — reminds me that he is the owner of the fastest marathon in the family and has never himself ran a sub-three. If I were to do any rounding, it would certainly be to four hours, not three. He gave me a good ribbing over this at dinner tonight.”

YORK, Pa. -- Vice President Joe Biden today slammed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney for calling the Iraq and Afghanistan troop drawdowns "a mistake" and said the GOP nominee is "ready to go to war" in Syria and Iran. 

"Listen to what he says about foreign policy. You caught some of it in his [convention] speech," Biden told a crowd of over a 1,000 at a Pennsylvania high school. "He said it was a mistake to end the war in Iraq and bring all of our warriors home."

Biden added, "He said it was a mistake to set an end date for our warriors in Afghanistan and bring them home. He implies by the speech that he's ready to go to war in Syria and Iran. He wants to move from cooperation to confrontation with Putin's Russia." 

While Romney has opposed the administration's strategy of timetabled troop exits for both wars, he did not address either conflict in his convention speech. Democrats have skewered Romney for failing to once mention Iraq or Afghanistan in his remarks to a primetime audience last Thursday night. (The campaign counters that he offered a lengthy foreign policy earlier last week.) 

Romney did criticize Obama's policies towards Iran and Russia during his convention speech, saying "under my administration ... Mr. Putin will see a little less flexibility and more backbone."
 
Biden also had harsh words Sunday for his VP counterpart, Rep. Paul Ryan. 

Mentioning Ryan's statement last week that "The truest measure of any society is how it treats those who cannot defend or care for themselves," Biden listed off education and health initiatives that he says would be cut under the Romney-Ryan plan. 

"I'd like to change the quote of my distinguished colleague, Congressman Ryan," he said. "I think the truest measure of a *political party* is how it treats those who cannot defend or care for themselves. And by that standard, it's no contest." 

*** UPDATE *** The Romney campaign issued this response, although it didn't include a mention about foreign policy: “Just today, President Obama’s own surrogates admitted that we are not better off than we were four years ago. It’s clear that we need to move in a different direction, but Vice President Biden only brought the same failed policies and tired attacks to Pennsylvania that have not turned around our economy or helped the middle class. Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have a plan for a stronger middle class that will bring back jobs and jumpstart the economy.”