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.

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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.”

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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.

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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