Politics

President Obama was the first Democrat in a generation to win in North Carolina, in 2008. Now, the city of Charlotte, North Carolina is gearing up to launch the Democratic National Convention, beginning Tuesday. Host Michel Martin speaks with Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx about how his city is preparing.

Among the things the Republican Party's presidential candidate is hearing this morning about the address he gave Thursday night is that "in a speech heavy on anecdotal history but short on policy details, Mitt Romney avoided major falsehoods."

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning. I'm David Greene.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And I'm Steve Inskeep. We have in front of us, a copy of the speech that Mitt Romney delivered at last night's Republican Convention.

GREENE: And we're going to give a close read to some of the key remarks. And three of our correspondents are on hand to help us.

Mitt Romney has accepted the Republican Party's nomination for president — telling voters it was time to turn the page from the "disappointing leadership" of President Obama. Thursday night's speakers presented Romney as a man of faith and family with the business skills to turn the economy around.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And I'm David Greene. Good morning.

College students have been heading back to school, and so has President Obama. For the last two weeks, the president has been visiting campuses in swing states around the country. He's been urging students to register and vote. His campaign says it is also working to win the votes of young people who are not in school. Here's NPR's Scott Horsley.

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OK. So the president is focused on young voters. At the Republican National Convention, Mitt Romney and his supporters were focused on women. Their effort is driven by the big deficit that Romney has had among women in poll matchups with the president. And that's why the GOP convention featured one high-profile female speaker after another. Here's NPR's Don Gonyea.

Although discussion of foreign policy was in scant evidence at the Republican National Convention, one country did loom large in the lineup: Israel.

Republican delegates in Tampa, Fla., were treated this week to images of Mitt Romney's recent visit to Israel. With stirring music and pictures of Jerusalem's iconic sites, the message of the Romney campaign is that the Republican candidate is a better friend to Israel than President Obama is.

It's been the political world's obsession for weeks leading into the Republican National Convention in Tampa.

Would nominee Mitt Romney manage what would be miraculous for any candidate, and in a handful of days and one big speech wash away the problems of a modern candidacy?

Turns out Romney's moment Thursday night was a fine one, if not a great one.

His speech continued the campaign's concerted effort to reach out to skeptical female voters, reminding the audience that his strong mother ran for Senate.

On Thursday, NPR's Frank James hosted a live chat during the GOP convention. He was joined by Neal Carruth, NPR's elections editor; Richard Foglesong, Florida political scientist; Marilyn Geewax, NPR.org national economic correspondent; Terri Bimes, presidential scholar; and S.V. Dáte, NPR's congressional editor.

Read below to see how it unfolded.