CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- As Republicans gather in Charlotte to take stock of their party's brand this week, one of their potential standard-bearers is advising them to turn their attention away from an "obsession with government bookkeeping" in Washington D.C.

"Today’s conservatism is completely wrapped up in solving the hideous mess that is the federal budget, the burgeoning deficits, the mammoth federal debt, the shortfall in our entitlement programs,"  Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal will say at tonight's keynote dinner at the Republican National Committee's Winter Meeting, according to an advance copy of remarks obtained by NBC News.

"We as Republicans have to accept that government number crunching – even conservative number crunching – is not the answer to our nation’s problems,” he will say.

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Jindal, frequently discussed as a possible 2016 presidential nominee for the GOP, will make the argument that Republican concern about constraining a bulging federal government -- signified to their base by President Barack Obama -- misses the point of growing the economy outside the Beltway.

"The Republican Party must become the party of growth, the party of a prosperous future that is based in our economic growth and opportunity that is based in every community in this great country and that is not based in Washington, DC," he will say.

J. Scott Applewhite / AP

Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana addresses activists from America's political right at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in this file photo.

The Louisiana governor's remarks come as Republicans in Congress have been struggling to out-manuever Obama on tactical measures related to spending, taxes and the debt ceiling. While the party has extracted some concessions from the White House as a result of the wrangling, consultants and elected officials alike fret that a focus on fighting the president looks more like stubborn obstruction than conservative valor to a weary public.

Jindal -- who is Indian-American, Catholic and just 41 years old -- has gained national fame in part by defying stereotypes about how a southern Republican governor looks and sounds. The party's efforts to expand its appeal beyond white men and the south top the Charlotte agenda.

Jindal is expected to speak tonight at around 7 p.m. ET. 

The economy remains the top issue for voters, and a new set of data released Friday paints a picture of an uneven economic recovery in a series of battleground states.

Of the nine states categorized as "battleground states" by NBC News, five had state unemployment rates below the national unemployment rate of 7.8 percent in September, according to preliminary estimates released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The other four states suffered from a higher-than-average jobless rates, the highest of which was in Nevada; the BLS said that 11.8 percent of Nevadans were unemployed through September, the highest unemployment rate of all 50 states. (One U.S. territory, Puerto Rico, had a higher jobless rate.)

Friday's news is the last series of state-level unemployement data voters will receive before Election Day. One last national jobs report is due Nov. 2, the Friday before voters head to the polls.

President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney have each made jobs the centerpiece of their respective campaigns. The president got a boost earlier this month when the BLS report showed the unemployment rate dropping below 8 percent for the first time in years, disarming Romney of one of his most potent cudgels versus the president.

But as each Obama and Romney travel the country over the next 18 days looking to secure the 270 electoral votes they need to win the White House, economic optimism might be brighter in some states and still dim in others.

The five states with unemployment rates below 7.8 percent included Iowa (5.2 percent), New Hampshire (5.7 percent), Ohio (7.0 percent), Virginia (5.9 percent) and Wisconsin (7.3 percent).

The four battleground states with unemployment rates above the national average are Colorado (8.0 percent), Florida (8.7 percent), Nevada and North Carolina (9.6 percent).

If, for purposes of speculation, Obama were to win the battleground states with jobless rates beneath 7.8 percent along with all of the other states considered more safely in his column, he would win the Electoral College, 288-250.

But politics, of course, are not that simple. For instance, the number of employees on nonfarm payrolls in Ohio actually decreased between August and September, though the unemployment rate dropped from 7.2 percent to 7 percent over the same period.

But as Obama argues that the economy is moving forward and Romney asserts that the recovery has not been sufficiently robust, it's helpful to remember how those arguments might sound different to voters in differing states.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – President Barack Obama will ask voters for another four years in office tonight, arguing that he needs more time in order to fully address some of the nation’s deepest-rooted problems.

 “I won’t pretend the path I’m offering is quick or easy. I never have. You didn’t elect me to tell you what you wanted to hear,” Obama will say tonight at the Democratic National Convention, according to excerpts released by his campaign.

“You elected me to tell you the truth. And the truth is, it will take more than a few years for us to solve challenges that have built up over decades,” he will add.

Related: Obama faces another defining convention speech

The president’s pitch seems, in part, to acknowledge voters’ disappointment that the “change” Obama had promised to bring about during his 2008 campaign had come slowly, something the president himself often notes on the campaign trail.

But as Republicans continue to argue this week that voters today are no better off than when Obama took office, Obama will lay out elements of a second-term agenda he would seek if re-elected.

Slideshow: Democratic National Convention

Among Obama’s promises would be a $4 trillion reduction in the deficit over the next decade, and creating 1 million new manufacturing jobs by the end of his second term. Obama will also call for halving net oil imports by 2020 and cutting the growth rate of college tuition in half over the next 10 years, too.

It’s not clear whether Obama will offer much detail as to how he might accomplish these proposals, especially since tonight’s speech is essentially a political one. The preview offered by his campaign says, though, that savings associated with ending wars in Iraq and Afghanistan would be re-invested in the economy.

“But know this, America: Our problems can be solved. Our challenges can be met. The path we offer may be harder, but it leads to a better place. And I’m asking you to choose that future,” Obama will say. “That’s what we can do in the next four years, and that’s why I’m running for a second term as president of the United States.”

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO –- Paul Ryan wasted no time on Thursday in attacking President Barack Obama and the Democrats on the final day of the Democratic National Convention.

“The president is going to be in Charlotte tonight with the Democratic convention. Their convention actually began with a tribute to big government. They actually said government is the only thing we all belong to,” Ryan told the crowd. “Then, they cut references to God out of their platform. They reversed course on that one yesterday – it wasn’t really a popular reversal if you watched it on TV.”

Continuing inside an airplane hangar: “But to quote a popular journalist from Wisconsin, ‘they were against God before they were for him.’” [The journalist, POLITICO’s Jim VandeHei, made the comments on MSNBC’s Morning Joe Thursday morning.] 

Related: Romney back on air

Speaking in the Centennial State – where four years ago, Obama officially accepted the Democratic Party's presidential nomination – the Republican vice presidential candidate said the president hasn’t lived up to his promises and has made the economy worse.

“You know, right here in Colorado, four years ago with the Styrofoam Greek columns, the big stadium, the president gave this long speech with lots of big promises,” Ryan said speaking inside WestPac Restorations. “And he said, let me quote ‘if you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.’ You know what, that is what he said four years ago and that is exactly what he is doing today. He has no record to run on.”

The attacks are coming from both sides.

Recommended: Bill Clinton steps up to lay out the case for Obama, Democrats 

Wednesday night, former President Bill Clinton spoke at the convention in Charlotte, NC and did not hold back on attacking the Romney-Ryan ticket.

“When Congressman Ryan looked into that TV camera and attacked President Obama's Medicare savings 'the biggest, coldest power play,' I didn't know whether to laugh or cry,” Clinton said. “Because that $716 billion is exactly to the dollar the same amount of Medicare savings that he had in his own budget! You got to admit one thing, it takes some brass to attack a guy for doing what you did.”

Congressman Ryan, who in Iowa on Wednesday morning praised Clinton for working with Republicans while in office, made no reference to the remarks made at the convention last night by the 42nd president.

Video: Wednesday night's DNC speeches

The House Budget Committee Chairman, however, did acknowledge he may have finally found one thing to agree on with current Vice President Joe Biden.

“You know it was just reported that in the middle of President Obama’s debt ceiling negotiations last summer Vice President Biden said quote, ‘You know if I were doing this I’d do it totally different,’” Ryan told the nearly 3,000 people here in Colorado about the upcoming Bob Woodward book, "The Price of Politics."

"Sounds like Joe and I finally agree on something," the congressman deadpanned.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Democrats resurrected language in their party platform on Wednesday declaring Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel after Republicans accused them of showing weak support for the longtime U.S. ally.

Chaos ruled on the floor of the Democratic National Convention as delegates and convention leaders were forced to call a voice vote three times to reinstate the language in an embarrassing turnaround.

Also restored was wording mentioning God. Democrats changed the platform language to say government should help people "make the most of their God-given potential."

Recommended: Clinton: No one could have restored economy to full health in 4 years

The most controversial change was about Israel. Campaign officials said it was ordered by President Barack Obama himself to reflect his own personal views. Obama was also opposed to the God language being removed, a campaign official said.

Presidents from both parties over the years have declared their support for making Jerusalem the capital of Israel, but have never taken the step to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv out of a belief that the future of Jerusalem should be decided through negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.

Recommended: 2016 hopefuls find footing, test waters in Charlotte

Still, declaring Jerusalem the capital of Israel is a powerful statement of support for the most important U.S. ally in the Middle East and to do otherwise risks hurting a president's support from the powerful Jewish-American community.

Romney and Jerusalem
Obama's opponent in the November 6 election, Republican Mitt Romney, is eager to drive a wedge between Obama and Jewish voters.

He traveled to Israel in July and received a warm welcome from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has had a cool relationship with Obama since the president proposed returning Israel to its pre-1967 borders.

Hoping to make an issue out of the platform language flap, Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said Obama needs to state "in unequivocal terms whether or not he believes Jerusalem is Israel's capital.

"Mitt Romney has consistently stated his belief that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel," she said, adding that the Democrats' convention voice vote "was unclear."

Four years ago, during the last presidential campaign, the Democratic Party's platform had said "Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel."

But this year that language was dropped to try to demonstrate a more even-handed position in the long-running Arab-Israeli dispute.

To reinstate the language, Democratic convention chair Antonio Villaraigosa, the Los Angeles mayor, had to call for a voice vote three times and looked uncertain as to how to proceed when the "no" votes seemed to be louder.

Eventually, he declared the measure had been approved by a two-thirds vote, prompting some shaking of heads among those in the crowd who had supported leaving the Jerusalem language out.

The status of Jerusalem is fiercely contested between the Palestinians and Israel, which seized eastern Jerusalem during the 1967 war, and is among the thorny "final status" issues to be determined in any peace negotiations.

Most countries, including the United States, have not recognized Israel's declaration of Jerusalem as its capital and keep their embassies in Tel Aviv.

White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters on the Air Force One flight that brought Obama to Charlotte that Obama had been consistent on the issue.

"The position on Jerusalem held by this administration, this president, is exactly the same position that Presidents and administrations have held since 1967 -- presidents of both parties, administrations of both parties," he said.  

John Brecher / NBC News

A panel discussion held by Democrats for Life in Charlotte, North Carolina on Tuesday, one of many events organized around the Democratic National Convention.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Small, shrinking (at least in its congressional representation), and sometimes forgotten, the wing of the Democratic Party that wants to limit or ban abortions is still trying to assert some influence here at the Democratic convention in Charlotte, N.C.

“We are members of the Democratic Party. We are pro-life and we are proud of our position as pro-life Democrats,” Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats for Life of America, told a group of about 40 people at an event Tuesday.

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“Being pro-life in the Democratic Party can sometimes be a lonely thing,” former Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper of Pennsylvania told the audience, which included a few delegates.“There are factions in our party who want us to go away. There are factions that think that we’re not true Democrats.”

But, she contended, Democrats can’t win seats like the one she held for one term in Erie, Pa., without running anti-abortion candidates. Elected in 2008, Dahlkemper was swept out in 2010 in the 2010 GOP wave, losing to Republican Mike Kelly.

“We will never get to be a majority again unless we have pro-life Democrats,” argued former Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak, who retired in 2010 and is on the board of Democrats for Life.

John Brecher / NBC News

Democrat Bart Stupak, a former US Representative from Michigan, talks to reporters following a panel discussion held by Democrats for Life in Charlotte, North Carolina on Tuesday.

Thirty-five years ago when the Democrats enjoyed a 292-seat majority in the House, there were 125 anti-abortion Democrats – including a young Rep. Al Gore of Tennessee. Now there are only 17 anti-abortion Democrats and districts such as Gore’s are now represented by anti-abortion Republicans.

Asked what his group wanted from the Democratic Party platform, Stupak said, “What it should say is the same thing it said in 1996: that on the abortion issue, we recognize that within in our party there are differences and we respect everyone’s differences, including those who are pro-life. What we want is an acknowledgement that pro-life Democrats exist and are valuable members of our party.”

You would not know they exist from the speakers’ line-up at the convention.

Recommended: 2016 hopefuls find footing, test waters in Charlotte

Given speaking slots Tuesday night: Nancy Keenan, President of the National Abortion Rights Action League and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius. Democrats for Life opposes Sebelius’s health insurance mandate because they say it requires companies and insurers to provide contraception coverage to workers, including certain types of “morning after” drugs that Stupak and anti-abortion activists say induce abortions. “The abortifacients are the big issue for me,” said Dahlkemper.

Stupak said that Sebelius’s contraceptive mandate violated both a 2009 law and the executive order which Stupak negotiated with the Obama administration that was designed to ensure that no money in the Affordable Care Act goes to subsidize abortions.

That accord was what allowed Stupak, Dahlkemper and other anti-abortion House Democrats to vote for the Affordable Care Act.

Related: Passion on display during DNC's first night

“I think it’s illegal,” Stupak said of the HHS mandate. But the former Michigan congressman said there’s still hope that Sebelius will relent and find some way to allow people or firms to modify the mandate. “We’re still engaged in discussions with HHS and the White House and we hope the matter will be resolved.”

Alabama delegate Julian McPhillips, an attorney on Montgomery, Ala., said he’d like the Democratic platform to go further than simply acknowledging that anti-abortion Democrats exist: “I wish they would acknowledge that there is real life in womb. This is my biggest problem with being a Democrat, no doubt.”

John Brecher / NBC News

"The only problem with pro-choice is that it's no choice for the one and only life at stake," said Alabama delegate Julian McPhillips, attending a Democrats for Life event in Charlotte, North Carolina on Tuesday, one of many events organized around the Democratic National Convention. He and his wife adopted a one-day-old boy 21 years ago from a mother who McPhillips said had intended to get an abortion until he convinced her to continue the pregnancy and give the baby up for adoption.

Given how marginalized the anti-abortion Democrats are, a natural question is: What is it that keeps them in the Democratic Party?

Dahlkemper answered that Tuesday by noting that she’d voted for the Obama stimulus bill, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street regulation bill, the repeal of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy on gays in the military, and of course the Affordable Care Act – which she argued “will significantly reduce the number of abortions in our country,” because it broadens Medicaid eligibility and provides funding for pregnant women’s care.

Slideshow: Democratic National Convention

“My votes in Congress put to rest any lingering idea that I am not a true Democrat,” she said.

And Democratic anti-abortion activists contend that Mitt Romney would be a worse president on protecting unborn life than Obama has been.

Stephen Schneck of Catholic University in Washington told the gathering that “the number of abortions will skyrocket” if Medicaid spending is cut, which would be one likely outcome of adopting the budget plan of the GOP vice presidential candidate, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan.

“Can a pro-life voter vote for Romney if it means a 6 or 7 or, God forbid, an 8 percent increase in the number of abortions in America?” Schneck asked.

A few hours after Democrats for Life held its panel discussion Tuesday, a larger group of Democrats – roughly ten times as many – showed up at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte for a raucous rally in support of abortion rights.

One of those Democrats with a front row seat at that rally, Annette Jurgelski from Hillsborough, N.C., whose husband is a retired doctor, said one reason she favors abortion rights is that when she and her husband moved to North Carolina for his medical training at Duke University, abortion was still illegal.

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

“Women came in afterward for treatment, after an illegal abortion,” she recalled. “And in the nine weeks my husband was on that (obstetrical/gynaecological) service, they brought in a 19-year girl and they could not save her. She died after four days on the ward.”

Jurgelski said she knows there are anti-abortion Democrats and wouldn’t mind an official acknowledgement of the diversity of views within the party. But “the problem with the very, very pro-life (movement) – especially the extreme of it – is that in some cases they will sacrifice the life of the mother for the fetus and I think that’s wrong. And I’m glad there are limits over the term in which abortion can be performed.”

But at the moment there seems to be little effort on either side of the abortion divide in the Democratic Party to bring people such as Jurgelski together with those such as Dahlkemper to seek harmony. In Charlotte, each group went to its own events.

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.

Launch slideshow

"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." 

 By Sandra Lilley, NBC Latino

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – For the first time in the Democratic party’s history, and in a sign of Latinos’ growing significance as a key voting block, San Antonio Texas Mayor Julian Castro was the first Hispanic to deliver the keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. Castro, the son of a Latina community activist and an increasingly visible young Latino Democrat, had one overarching message to his speech — America is the land of opportunity, as long as it is a collective priority.

“Of all the fictions we heard last week in Tampa, the one I find most troubling is this: If we all go our own way, our nation will be stronger for it,” said Castro, adding, “because if we sever the threads that connect us, the only people who will go far are those who are already ahead. We all understand that freedom isn’t free — neither is opportunity. We have to invest in it,” said Castro.

The 37-year-old Mayor of San Antonio spoke lovingly of his grandmother, who left Mexico as a little girl, never made it past the fourth grade, worked as a maid, cook and babysitter, and later in life taught herself to read and write in Spanish and English. Castro said only in America would the grandsons of this woman would end up as Mayor (himself) and the other on his way to the U.S. Congress (his twin brother Joaquin). In fact, it was his twin brother Joaquin who introduced Julian, a powerful image of two young Latino politicians who were raised in modest circumstances and are now in the national spotlight.

More coverage from NBCLatino

“The dream of raising a family in a place where hard work is rewarded is not unique to Americans,” said Castro. “The dream is universal, but America makes it possible, and our investment in opportunity makes it a reality — America didn’t become the land of opportunity by accident,” said Castro. Castro then gave a vigorous defense of Obama’s policies, saying Obama saved a million jobs by rescuing the auto industry, made a historic investment in public schools, and expanded college opportunities through Pell grants. Castro also said Obama succeeded where seven other American Presidents had not, in passing health care legislation.

Then Castro praised Obama for taking action on the Dreamers. “And because he knows we don’t have an ounce of talent to waste, the President took action to lift the shadow of deportation from a generation of young, law-abiding immigrants called dreamers.” He then urged Congress to “enshrine into law their right to pursue their dreams in the only place they’ve ever called home: America,” bringing cheers from the crowd.

Castro’s speech then went on offense against the Republican presidential candidate. “Mitt Romney, quite simply, doesn’t get it,” said Castro. Criticizing Romney for telling students to “borrow money from your parents,” and saying to laughter, “Gee, why didn’t I think of that?” Castro said, “I don’t think Governor Romney meant any harm.  I think he is a good guy.  I just don’t think he has any idea how good he’s had it.”

Castro then added, “The Romney-Ryan budget doesn’t just pummel the middle class — it dismantles it.”  He then said Romney says “no” to getting the middle class back to work, respecting women’s rights, “letting people marry whomever they love,” and expanding access to good health care . He also accused him of undergoing an “extreme makeover” on issues.

Castro  then ended his historic keynote speech on a note that touched on his immigrant grandmother’s journey.

“In the end, the American dream is not a sprint or even a marathon, but a relay…My mother fought hard for civil rights so that instead of a mop, I could hold this microphone,” said Castro, urging the re-election of Barack Obama to build on “shared prosperity.”  Castro’s speech was well received on the convention floor, eliciting enthusiasm and cheers of “four more years.”

Opinion: Castro should act like he belongs

After Castro, First Lady Michelle Obama gave a heartfelt speech in defense of her husband.

“After so many struggles and triumphs and moments that have tested my husband in ways I never could have imagined, I have seen firsthand that being president doesn’t change who you are — it reveals who you are,” said the First Lady to rousing applause. “But at the end of the day, all you have to guide you are your values — so when it comes to rebuilding our economy, Barack is thinking about folks like my dad and like his grandmother,” said Michelle Obama, who talked of her father’s struggles with multiple sclerosis, his pride at paying part of her college tuition, and Barack’s childhood as the son of a single mother who spent much time with his grandparents.

And in a pointed remark aimed at Republican comments that Obama has pitted classes against each other, the First Lady said “our families didn’t begrudge anyone else’s success or care that others had much more than they did — in fact, they admired it.”

Michelle Obama then passionately defended her husband’s record, saying he tackled health care reform, signed the Lily Ledbetter act,  and kept student loans from increasing, because for Obama, “these issues aren’t political — they’re personal.”  Saying he reads letters from Americans late into the night, she says, “I see how those stories … that’s what drives Barack Obama every single day.”

The First Lady also said, “If immigrants could leave behind everything they knew for a better life on our shores, then surely we can give everyone in this country a fair chance at the American Dream.”  She then said, “we must once again come together and stand together for the man we can trust to keep moving this great country forward,” her husband, Barack Obama.

Castro’s and Michelle Obama’s speeches definitely roused the convention floor, and Democrats hope the energy and enthusiasm continue in the next two nights of the convention.

Full political coverage from NBCLatino

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.

The early returns are in, and the winner as the Democratic convention's most ubiquitous and energetic politician so far is Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker. Seemingly everywhere you look, Booker is addressing a state delegation, speaking at a rally, or greeting his fans.

On Tuesday night as a summer storm boomed in Charlotte, Booker won thunderous applause as he addressed the convention on the platform.

"When your country is in a costly war with our soldiers sacrificing abroad, and our nation is facing a debt crisis at home, being asked to pay your fair share isn't class warfare, it's patriotism," he said, arguing the need for tax increases.

John Brecher / NBC News

Cory Booker, mayor of Newark, New Jersey, addresses the Florida delegation at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Tuesday morning.

But the mayor’s appearance on the dais was just his highest-profile one in a series of stops this convention week. On Tuesday morning, Booker brought the Florida delegation to its feet with a rousing speech.

“We can’t make the mistake that they (the Republicans) make of thinking this country is hungry for bash and slash and trash,” he said. “This country is hungry for hope.”

He got a huge laugh with his joke about New Jersey being superior to Virginia – despite the slogan, “Virginia is for lovers.” He said, “In New Jersey we invented the drive-in movie theater,” adding that his mother told him, “You were conceived in a double feature. Sidney Poitier, ‘In the Heat of the Night’ – and ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?’”

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Tuesday afternoon, Booker was the leadoff speaker at the Planned Parenthood Action Fund rally at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in downtown Charlotte. “He ran into a burning building to save a woman’s life,” actress and emcee Aisha Tyler said as she introduced Booker – a reference to his actions to save a neighbor from a fire earlier this year.

Booker told the crowd he’d made a mistake last week thinking he could do his usual late-night routine of simultaneously watching television and eating ice cream. While watching the Republican convention, he said he found that “Ben & Jerry does not mix with Mitt and Ryan ... that ice cream was curdling before I even got it to my mouth.”

He bashed New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie – although not identifying him by name – for proposing a 2010 budget that cut funding for Planned Parenthood, resulting in the reduction of clinic hours.

“They may tell us they love women, but when they do things like that, they are setting all of us back,” he said. When a woman goes to a Planned Parenthood clinic, Booker said, “This is an opportunity for them to get contraception that could prevent the abortion that you are so much against.”

On Monday, Booker was up early to address the Iowa delegation where he got a wildly enthusiastic reception during his 25-minute speech and told that his grandmother was born in Des Moines, Iowa.

"My grandma back in 1918 was born in Des Moines, Iowa ... My grandmother grew up there, my grandmother's siblings went to college there. My family is still spread out all through Iowa ... I'm proud, proud of those roots," he said.

Booker told the delegates that great-grandparents moved from Alabama to Buxton, Iowa which in the early 1900s was a big coal mining town with a large African-American population. Booker’s mention of Buxton got a big round of applause. "Some people know what I'm talking about!" he said.

John Brecher / NBC News

Cory Booker, mayor of Newark, New Jersey, addresses the Florida delegation at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Tuesday morning.

Related: Iowa Democrats prepare for starring role in fall campaign

It’s not clear where Booker’s relentless energy will lead the mayor electorally. Two possible opportunities await back in his home state: to run for senator if Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., decides to retire in 2014, or to run for governor next year against Christie.

“I think even he may not know yet,” said David Redlawsk, director of the Rutgers-Eagleton Poll and professor of political science at Rutgers University in New Jersey. “He's ambitious, but ambition in New Jersey usually runs up against various power brokers. I don't think he'd want to take on Lautenberg in a primary, so the Senate depends on what the current senator decides to do. He has, of course, insisted he will be running again.”

Redlawsk added, “Governor is also tricky, given that Christie's ratings have held up, and that right now you'd have to say he has the inside track for a second term. A loss to Christie would certainly be painful. The Senate seat is far more likely to stay in Democratic hands than Christie is to lose at this point. Thus, if Booker could somehow clear the decks for a Senate run, and Lautenberg retired, that would give him the highest probability of success.”

No matter how high he is able to climb in New Jersey politics, Booker is tirelessly building a national following here in Charlotte – and on Thursday he'll be addressing the New Hampshire delegation's breakfast. 

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.

Updated 7:55 p.m. - CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Democrats set about showcasing their own diversity on the opening evening of their convention Tuesday in Charlotte, a week after Republicans put their rising women and Latino stars on display in Tampa.

First lady Michelle Obama will lead a gathering of voices meant to energize some of President Barack Obama's and the Democratic Party’s core voters and stymie Republican efforts to make inroads with those communities.

Slideshow: Democratic National Convention

San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro will deliver the keynote address as a prime-time counterpoint to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s speech to the Republican National Convention last week. And other slots will go to speakers meant to motivate young voters, women, and African-Americans to turn out to the polls in November.

The Obama campaign downplays the idea of an enthusiasm gap between its supporters and those of Republican nominee Mitt Romney. They also dismiss the notion of waning excitement from their own key constituencies now vs. four years ago. “No, hell no,” a top Obama campaign official said of the notion in previewing the night’s speeches. Polls, though, suggest that one of the enduring challenges for the president will be in making sure core Democratic groups turn out to the polls this fall.

 Related: First Thoughts: The enthusiasm gap

Obama leads Romney by 10 points among women and by 35 points among Latinos, according to last August’s NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, the challenge for Democrats involves making sure those voters turn out to the polls.

That challenge is particularly evident in North Carolina, the home to this week’s convention and where Obama won by only 14,000 votes in 2008; a victory due in large part to high turnout from young voters and African Americans.

Robyn Beck / AFP - Getty Images

An advance team checks the stage hours before the start of the Democratic National Convention (DNC), September 4, 2012 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The president has staked much of his re-election effort on making the 2012 race into a "choice," rather than a referendum on his first term.  He often admonishes audiences: “Don't boo – vote!”

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

But as Republicans push a time-tested attack on incumbents (“Are you better off today than you were four years ago?”) this week, tonight’s speakers will try to reverse any sense of disillusionment or disappointment.

To that end, the GOP trotted out a series of high-profile figures, like Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, and would-be first lady Ann Romney, to make the case against Obama, with an eye toward women and Latinos.

Many of Democrats’ speakers tonight are arranged to make the counterpoint to Republicans’ messaging last week.

Michelle Obama, who enjoys stellar personal favorability ratings and has become a valuable campaign surrogate for her husband, will cap tonight’s speakers. The first lady’s remarks present a strong opportunity to speak directly to women and African-Americans.

"I am going to be at home and I'm going to be watching it with our girls and I am going to try not to let them see their daddy cry," President Obama said Tuesday in Virginia of his plans for tonight's speech. "Because when Michelle starts talking, I, I start getting all misty."

Michelle Obama, like Vice President Joe Biden later this week, will serve more as a “character witness” to the president than anything else.

Some of the Democrats’ other speakers this week will more directly challenge Romney on issues of importance to specific voting blocs.

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Kal Penn, the actor-turned-White House staffer who was featured in a promotional video for the convention released on Monday, will speak tonight in a play for young voters.

The overtures to women this evening will be even sharper. Lilly Ledbetter, the namesake figure behind a paycheck equality law Obama signed early in his term, will address delegates shortly before prime time tonight. Other women onstage tonight will include House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida congresswoman. Viewers early in the evening can also expect a tribute to the women of the House of Representatives.

Tuesday evening will also feature members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and other high-profile Latino leaders like Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, among others.

One of the most anticipated speeches will be the keynote from Castro, a figure regarded by Democrats as a rising star in the party who has drawn comparisons with Obama. A top Obama campaign official called Castro the “embodiment of the American dream,” and the campaign expects tonight’s speech to be a highlight of the night.

A number of African-American speakers – from highest-ranking African-American in the House, Rep. James Clyburn, S.C., to a rising Democratic star, California Attorney General Kamala Harris – will speak tonight.

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

High turnout among black voters in 2008, who were particularly energized to elect the nation’s first black president, helped put Obama over the top in states like Virginia and North Carolina and could help put the president over the top versus Romney in 2012.