CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- For months, Michelle Obama has stood behind podiums at fundraisers and rallies, delivering many of the same lines she offered last night.

Famously disciplined and often relating her stump speech nearly line-for-line several times in a day, many of the first lady's biographical stories are well-worn to those who have followed her on the road: her father's pride in paying his bills on time, her husband's frustration at the glass ceiling that loomed above his grandmother, the president's late nights agonizing over the letters from Americans in trouble. 

But in front of a national audience and an adoring crowd, new imagery used by the first lady last night - and an implicit plea to voters to remain "in love" with the man they chose four years ago -- offered a personal and deeply emotive pitch that veiled some of her stories' unmistakable contrasts between her husband's personal history and that of the man who wants to replace him. 

PhotoBlog: See a 360-degree view of Michelle Obama speaking at the DNC

"We learned about dignity and decency - that how hard you work matters more than how much you make," she told the convention crowd, nudging against the narrative of Mitt Romney's wealth as a measure of his fitness to run the American economy. "Success doesn't count unless you earn it fair and square." 

Adding to typical references like the student loans that mired the Obamas as a young couple, Mrs. Obama added that her young beau's "proudest possession was a coffee table he'd found in a dumpster," hinting perhaps at an oblique response to Ann Romney's description of the ironing board that served as a dining room table for the newly married Romneys. 

Slideshow: Democratic National Convention

David Goldman / AP

First lady Michelle Obama waves after delivering remarks to the Democratic National Convention.

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"Barack knows the American Dream because he's lived it," she said, repeating an old staple of her stump speech that - if delivered with a hint of indignance  - could draw a direct line to the implication that Mitt Romney has not.  

But Mrs. Obama's almost prayerful tone at times eliminated the possible sting that her pitch could hold for independent voters. And previously unrecited details, like her husband's obsessive monitoring of her infant daughters' cribs, personalized a man frequently tagged as "aloof." 

While much of the first lady's material was familiar, some language - particularly on the issues of abortion rights and gay marriage - was notably more direct than words she typically offers to audiences in Pueblo and Raleigh and Richmond. 

VIDEO: Tuesday night's DNC speeches

For example, Mrs. Obama extolled the bravery of "proud Americans can be who they are and boldly stand at the altar with who they love."  (She usually praises the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy but steers clear of words like "altar.") 

And she won roars of approval in the debate hall for saying bluntly that "women are more than capable of making our own choices about our bodies and our health care." 

Like her Republican counterpart Ann Romney, Mrs. Obama uttered the word "love" often -- a total of 15 times in her remarks. 

Ultimately, the challenge for the popular first lady will be to convince disenchanted voters that they would consider agreeing with one central sentence in her speech: "I didn't think it was possible" she said of her husband, "but today I love [him] even more than I did four years ago." 

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – First lady Michelle Obama said her husband remains anchored by the same values he brought to the White House nearly four years ago, on a night devoted as much to tearing down Republican nominee Mitt Romney, as building up President Barack Obama and his record.

Democrats’ message on Tuesday, the first day of the Democratic National Convention, was two-pronged and crystal clear. The evening’s speeches both sought to extol the president’s accomplishments and cast him as empathetic, while at the same time looking to deconstruct Romney and cast him as an impossibly worse choice for president.

Slideshow: The Democratic National Convention

The evening’s top-billed speakers embodied the dual purposes of Tuesday’s programming.  Michelle Obama said her husband was the “same man” he was before the White House, in a speech designed to put a softer edge on the  president’s case for re-election. And keynote speaker Julian Castro said Romney would diminish opportunities for voters if elected, in a speech that also weaved in the personal story of the San Antonio mayor, whom party leaders regard as a rising star.

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

First lady Michelle Obama speaks on stage during day one of the Democratic National Convention at Time Warner Cable Arena on September 4, 2012 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

VIDEO: Tuesday night's DNC speeches

"I have seen firsthand that being president doesn’t change who you are – no, it reveals who you are," Michelle Obama said in her prime-time speech. "So in the end, for Barack, these issues aren’t political – they’re personal. Because Barack knows what it means when a family struggles ... Barack knows the American Dream because he's lived it."

And the first lady brought the crowd to their feet in closing: "I know from experience that if I truly want to leave a better world for my daughters, and all our sons and daughters ... then we must work like never before, and we must once again come together and stand together for the man we can trust to keep moving this great country forward…my husband, our president, President Barack Obama."

Mrs. Obama's speech capped hours’ worth of speeches in Charlotte, but stood in contrast against most of the day’s earlier speakers, many of whom offered sharp criticism of Romney. So strong were the attacks on the Republican nominee, that it seemed as though many of the efforts to build up Obama were secondary to disparaging Romney.

PhotoBlog: See a 360-degree view of Michelle Obama speaking at the DNC

A spokeswoman for the GOP presidential nominee, Andrea Saul, said late Tueseday evening in response: "On the first night of President Obama’s convention, not a single speaker uttered the words ‘Americans are better off than they were four years ago.’ Instead, there was a night full of tributes to government as the solution to every problem, even going as far as to say that ‘government is the only thing that we all belong to."

Though much of his speech focused on overcoming the difficulties associated with being a poor Latino in Texas as a child, the middle of Castro’s speech took aim at Romney in a way that was similar to those addresses.

"Republicans tell us that if the most prosperous among us do even better, that somehow the rest of us will too. Folks, we’ve heard that before. First they called it 'trickle-down.' Then they called it 'supply-side.' Now it’s 'Romney-Ryan.' Or is it 'Ryan-Romney'?" Castro said. "Either way, their theory's been tested. It failed. Our economy failed. The middle class paid the price. Your family paid the price. Mitt Romney just doesn’t get it.”

As if to clarify the evening's theme, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley said: "We understand that progress is a choice. Job creation is a choice. Whether we move forward or back, this too is a choice. And that is what this election is all about."

Other attacks on Romney sought to exploit Obama’s current advantages over his Republican opponents among women and Latinos, two crucial voting blocs which could sway the outcome of the election.

Texas Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said Romney had “embraced the racial profiling policies of Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and Sheriff Joe Arpaio” by way of praising Arizona’s controversial immigration law as a “model.”

And Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who has clashed publicly with the Bain Capital co-founder by contending that there were years in which Romney paid no taxes, excoriated the GOP nominee as opaque and undeserving of trust.

(Reid's charge prompted a response from Romney spokesman Ryan Williams: "Harry Reid has once again shown that he is completely detached from reality. Senator Reid’s comments tonight are absolutely false and are another attempt to distract from President Obama’s abysmal economic record.")

Slideshow: Democratic National Convention

David Goldman / AP

Democrats gather in Charlotte, N.C., to officially nominate President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden as the party's candidates for the 2012 presidential election.

Launch slideshow

The tone of the first night of the Democratic convention seemed more aggressively negative toward Romney than much of the Republican-led criticism of Obama last week in Tampa. It was an emphasis in keeping with Democrats’ effort to turn the election into a choice – in which they try to make Romney seem like a worse pick than Romney – rather than a referendum on Obama’s record after almost four years in office.

The first day of the Democratic convention was also an exercise in energizing the party’s core constituencies. Among the speakers on Tuesday were the leaders of the AFL-CIO and SEIU, two of the nation’s largest labor groups, the president of the pro-abortion rights group NARAL, and speakers like openly gay Colorado Rep. Jared Polis, who praised Obama’s actions to expand gay rights.

Those strides toward building up Obama were certainly part of the programming on Tuesday night, and the achievements most frequently emphasized included the president’s signature health care overhaul law and the bailout of the auto industry in particular.

“Facts are facts: No president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the Great Depression inherited a worse economy, bigger job losses or deeper problems from his predecessor,” said O’Malley, the first prime-time speaker of the evening. “But President Obama is moving America forward, not back.”

On Wednesday, Democrats will formally name Obama their candidate re-election after a highly-anticipated nominating speech by former President Bill Clinton.

Obama himself will travel to Charlotte on Wednesday, joining Vice President Joe Biden who made it to the convention city this afternoon. Both men will speak outdoors on Thursday at Charlotte’s Bank of America stadium, the home of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers and a potentially raucous atmosphere the president’s campaign hopes will recapture the imagery of Obama’s 2008 outdoor acceptance speech in Denver.

San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro will go after the Republican presidential ticket for its economic philosophy and try to paint the pair as out of touch.

"Republicans tell us that if the most prosperous among us do even better, that somehow the rest of us will too,” Castro, 37, will say, according to excerpts released by the Democratic National Convention Committee. “Folks...we've heard that before. First they called it 'trickle-down.' Then 'supply side.' Now it's 'Romney/Ryan.' Or is it 'Ryan/Romney'? Either way, their theory has been tested. It failed. Our economy failed. The middle class paid the price. Your family paid the price. Mitt Romney just doesn't get it."

He will note the value of hard work, but add that the country needs to “invest” and help people along the way. 

"Texas may be the one place where people actually still have bootstraps,” he will say, “and we expect folks to pull themselves up by them. But we also recognize there are some things we can't do alone.”

He will add: "Mitt Romney, quite simply, doesn't get it. A few months ago he visited a university in Ohio and gave the students there a little entrepreneurial advice. 'Start a business,' he said. But how? 'Borrow money if you have to from your parents,' he told them. Gee -- why didn't I think of that?" 

The Social Media Story of DNC 2012

He will also lavish praise on President Obama. 

"Now, like many of you, I watched last week's Republican Convention,” he will say. “They told a few stories of individual success...we all celebrate individual success. But the question is, how do we multiply that success. The answer is President Barack Obama."

He adds: "Four years ago, America stood on the brink of a Depression. Despite incredible odds and united Republican opposition, our President took action. And now we've seen 4.5 million new jobs. He knows better than anyone that there's more hard work to do. But we're making progress. And now we need to make a choice. It's a choice...between a country where the middle class pays more, so that millionaires can pay less... or a country where everybody pays their fair share. It's a choice between a nation that slashes funding for our schools and guts Pell grants... Or a nation that invests more in education. It's a choice between a politician who rewards companies that ship American jobs overseas...Or a leader who brings jobs back home.

"This is the choice before us. And to me, to my generation, and for all the generations that will come after us, our choice is clear. Our choice is a man who's always chosen us. A man who already is our President -- Barack Obama."

For more, read: "Who is Julian Castro and can he deliver in the spotlight?"

*** UPDATE *** Ryan Williams, of the Romney campaign, responded this way: “Middle class families understand that they are not better off than they were four years ago because President Obama’s liberal policies have failed to turn around the economy. The president has wasted hundreds of billions of dollars on a big government agenda that has resulted in record debt, declining salaries and 42 consecutive months of unemployment above 8%. Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have a plan that will strengthen the middle class by reforming our tax code, reducing excessive government regulations and creating 12 million jobs over the next four years.” 

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The stage for the Democratic National Convention is an elaborate display of lights, carpeting and video screens. It’s worthy of a Las Vegas show. In fact, unionized workers from Vegas were “imported” to build the stage, according to delegate Dick Collins, who hails from Sin City.

“Most of the trade unions are boycotting this, because it’s held in a non-union town,” Collins proudly said. It’s also the least unionized state in the U.S. -- less than 3%, especially since state law forbids government workers from organizing.

North Carolina’s right-to-work status has been a sore spot with unions. The building trades held their own political rally recently in Philadelphia. Local leaders quietly talked about not being motivated for the president and those down-ticket.

So into the discontent, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka stepped Tuesday morning, meeting with several hundred labor leaders who are also delegates. He got a raucous welcome. The organization chose a hotel close to the  Time-Warner Cable Arena. It didn’t matter, since no hotels are unionized in Charlotte.

“And the labor movement may be small here, but I could tell you that it truly does punch above its own weight,” Trumka said trying to mollify any holdover anger. He urged members to keep the greater goal in sight. “We have a chance to stand with leaders who champion working families.”

Besides, he suggests, labor’s presence might spark some movement on that front in North Carolina, and maybe the south in general.
Collins, a retiree from labor organizing in Buffalo who moved to Vegas, breathes a heavy sigh when asked about such speculation. “I hope he’s right. I hope he’s right.”

He’d rather be anywhere else. “Not only is it a non-union town; it’s a staunch anti-union town, which makes it even worse." 

Collins concluded, “They have so many ignorant people here that they don’t understand the goodness of unions."

But Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is not just for unions. Mark Mix of the National Right to Work Committee issued a video statement marking the holiday as a pre-emptive strike on the Democrats’ convention. 

“Union officials are mounting a billion-dollar campaign to reelect President Barack Obama; and elect more pro-forced-unionism allies in Congress,” Mix says into the camera.

He claimed, “The National Right to Work Committee is mobilizing its 2.6 million members to call on candidates to support greater workplace freedoms.” They do politics, too.

NORFOLK, VA -- President Barack Obama exhorted Virginians for their votes on Tuesday at his last campaign event before the Democratic National Convention this week in Charlotte.

Previewing the speech he is set to deliver at the convention on Thursday night, the president said: "I will offer what I believe is a better path forward. A path that will create good jobs and strengthen our middle class and grow our economy."

Obama pointed to the policy changes he has made regarding health care, national security and the economy as reasons voters should give him a second term in office.

But the president also used his appearance in Norfolk to criticize the proposals of his Republican opponents as well.

“On issue after issue, Gov. Romney and Congressman Ryan, they want to take us backwards. But the story of America is not about going backwards; its about going forwards,” the president said to a cheering crowd.

The Romney Campaign was quick to respond to the president’s speech. Spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg said in a statement: "President Obama has found himself on the wrong side of the issues Virginian’s care about the most." The Romney campaign went on to say that “there is no doubt that Americans aren’t better off today than they were four years ago."

Mr. Obama’s speech at Norfolk State University comes only hours before his wife is scheduled to deliver a prime-time address tonight from the convention hall in North Carolina.

Mr. Obama said he would watch the speech at the White House with his two daughters.

Calling the first lady, “the star of the Obama Family,” the president said he would try not to let his daughters see him cry while she speaks.  But went on to acknowledge that may be difficult to do, saying, “When Michelle starts talking, I start getting all misty.”

The crowd at Norfolk State was made up predominately of African American college students, two key segments of his political base whom Mr. Obama hopes to re-energize and rally in the next eight weeks before the election. Twice during his remarks when the audience booed as he spoke about Governor Romney, the president responded, “Don’t boo, vote.”

The rally in Norfolk was the second trip to Virginia made by the president in less than a week. Recent polling suggests that Obama and Romney are statistically tied in the commonwealth, and, as a result, both men have dedicated tons of resources and made frequent visits to the state, hoping to capture its thirteen electoral votes this November. Governor Romney also traveled to Norfolk last month to announce Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate.

CHARLOTTE, NC -- Republicans gathered here to counter the Democratic National Convention seized Tuesday on President Barack Obama's self-grade of "incomplete" after his first term.

Picking up on the grade the president gave himself with a Colorado television affiliate, a series of Republicans pounced during a press conference at at the Nascar Hall of Fame, where Republicans have set up camp during the DNC.

"I have a 10-year-old and a 14-year-old. I know if on their report card they came home with an incomplete that means they failed," said South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

When asked to grade his time in the Oval Office, the president told a local Colorado television station on Monday: "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."

Former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, Rep. Tim Scott and former Deputy Administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration Jovita Carranza also spoke at the press conference and all used it as an opportunity to slam the president's self assessment.

"When the president was asked what grade he would give himself, he obviously had a quick look at his report card and saw a big 'I' on it.  He thought the 'I' was for incomplete. The 'I' was for incompetent," said Sununu.

And tea party favorite Rep. Tim Scott (R-SC) was able to draw on some personal experience when giving his interpretation of the president's answer. 

"I understand an incomplete is a way to avoid a failing grade. As a freshman in high school, I flunked out," he said. "When you're in that situation you really want something that looks like an incomplete grade, but unfortunately what you get from the people who are actually grading you is a failed grade.  Our president was asked the question: Are we better off? It's a failed grade."

Haley also addressed women's issues just hours before Democrats are set to kick off their convention. One of Tuesday night's most-watched speakers will be Michele Obama, who is expected to stress her husband's humble upbringing. The well-liked first lady has been one of the Obama campaign's strongest assets in appealing to women voters.

As Planned Parenthood held a rally just a block away, Haley attempted to downplay the notion that abortion rights issues have alienated women from the Republican party.

"Let me tell you about women.  Women are extremely smart.  Woman are extremely right.  We don't only think about contraception. We think about a lot more then contraception. I know pro-life women that are in the Democratic Party. I know pro-choice women that are in the Republican Party.  but I also know that all women care about their budgets, they care about their jobs, they care about the economy," she said.

Slideshow: Democratic National Convention

David Goldman / AP

Democrats gather in Charlotte, N.C., to officially nominate President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden as the party's candidates for the 2012 presidential election.

Launch slideshow

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Enthusiasm gap, what enthusiasm gap? That’s at least what the Obama campaign claims.

On Day One of the Democratic National Convention, a top campaign official said the campaign does not accept the premise that the president has work to do in firing up young voters and Latinos, in particular.

“No. Hell no,” the official responded.

That's despite, as we wrote in First Thoughts this morning, "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.”

Furthermore, key pro-Republican groups generally say they are more interested than those Democratic constituencies in this election on a scale of one to 10. 

There's also a reason President Obama has campaigned on college campuses leading up to the convention, talking about student loans and urging students not to "boo," but "vote." 

There's a reason the president unveiled his immigration announcement earlier this year -- more than a year after the DREAM Act failed in Congress. He may believe it's the right thing to do, but Latinos are also a key political constituency. Obama still leads with Hispanics by almost 40 points in the NBC/WSJ/Telemundo poll, even wider that the gap that existed with John McCain.

The Obama official, however, cited that the campaign has hit a record level of voter registrations, door knocks and an improved grass-roots operation -- even over 2008. 

“We’re going to make ’08 look like Jurassic Park,” the official claimed, going on to cite that the Obama campaign has 100 offices in Ohio and Romney only has 30; 50 in North Carolina, and Romney has 20.

The Romney campaign would counter, though, that the Obama campaign needs a larger grass-roots operation because of the economic headwinds and polls showing lagging enthusiasm with those key pro-Democratic demographic groups.

Slideshow: Democratic National Convention

David Goldman / AP

Democrats gather in Charlotte, N.C., to officially nominate President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden as the party's candidates for the 2012 presidential election.

Launch slideshow

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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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.”