Elections 2012

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As he accepted his party's nomination for a second term last night, President Obama said that building a better future will take him more time.

MONTAGNE: The president told his supporters at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte that the progress he'd made so far would be reversed if Mitt Romney won the White House.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

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Speaking to the Democratic Convention last night, President Obama spoke a line that played off a famous speech by John F. Kennedy. Kennedy said people should ask what they can do for their country.

Framing the coming election as a choice between fundamentally different visions, President Obama offered himself to the country Thursday as a fire-tested leader ready to finish the job he started.

"Our problems can be solved," Obama said. "Our challenges can be met."

It was an older, battle-scarred nominee who faced his party in Charlotte, N.C. This message of hope was tempered and longer-view — a good distance if not a full turn from the vision he offered four years ago when he accepted the nomination in a thundering Denver stadium.

If you missed the last night of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., we live blogged it here.

But if you want a quick review, we've compiled five things that struck us about the night:

Over the past few weeks, President Obama has been heavily courting the youth vote with visits to college campuses in swing states nationwide. And at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., there's been a big push for youth involvement, with 644 delegates under the age of 35, and even an official youth engagement coordinator.

Polls show support for Obama among 18- to 29-year-olds at around 55 percent, slightly down from when he was elected in 2008.

As the political conventions wrap up, talking points concerning the economy may seem locked into place: Growth is continuing, but at a slow pace.

Don't be fooled.

There's still plenty of time for big surprises, and Thursday provided a stunning example. Stock prices shot to highs not seen in years.

Good evening from Charlotte. Tonight during the last day of the Democratic National Convention, President Obama will accept his party's nomination.

It will be a star-studded evening with performances from James Taylor and the Foo Fighters and appearences from stars like Eva Longoria and Scarlett Johansson.

We'll keep tabs on it the whole night. Also, along with NPR's Liz Halloran and Becky Lettenberger, we'll hit the floor and bring you updates on several of the delegations. Make sure to refresh this page to the see the latest.

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Four years ago, then-Senator Barack Obama took the stage in Denver to accept his party's presidential nomination. He spoke of overcoming partisanship and economic turmoil. Well, tonight, President Obama will do it again with four years of experience under his belt. Since taking office, he has struggled to overcome a crushing recession, a weak recovery and a deeply divided electorate.

NPR's Scott Horsley has this story on the path the president has traveled.

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ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

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AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

And I'm Audie Cornish at the Democratic National Convention.

All week the conversation here has been about jobs. But other than a primetime appearance by Costco's co-founder, big business supporters have been MIA. I did find a meeting of progressive business leaders, where I met a CEO named Kim Jordan.

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Last night, former President Bill Clinton delivered a speech remarkable both for its eloquence and for the sheer quantity of facts it contained. The folks at FactCheck.org described it this way: A fact-checker's nightmare - lots of effort required to run down his many statistics and factual claims, producing little for us to write about.

We're going to put a few of those claims of fact to the test now with Robert Farley, who's the deputy managing editor at FactCheck.org. Welcome to the program.