WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

When the Democrats kick off their convention Tuesday in Charlotte, it will be, among other things, a naked attempt to hold on to North Carolina in the electoral college. The prize is 15 electoral votes which, in a close election, can make or break a candidate’s quest.

Just to give you a sense of how difficult that might be, consider that in 2008 President Barack Obama won here by 0.3 percent margin of victory -- only about 14,000 votes.

Now consider that Bill Clinton, son of the south and keynoter at this week’s convention, was never able to claim victory in North Carolina.

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The most horrifying moment of this year’s Republican National convention didn’t happen onstage and did not involve any big names.

It was, instead, an off the cuff moment, in the margins, just moments before Ann Romney gave her big speech Tuesday. It involved two attendees — names unknown, delegate status unknown — and a CNN camerawoman since identified as Patricia Carrol.

It’s been more 48 hours since the incident and, so far, it appears to have been successfully buried by the RNC with CNN’s cooperation.

What happened?

According to Politics365.com and various other news outlets, sometime Tuesday, two convention attendees approached Carroll, who is an African-American, threw a handful of nuts at her, and said, “This is how we feed the animals.”

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Once the GOP convention finally gets off the ground Tuesday, it will be a multicultural marvel that Democrats will be hard pressed to replicate.

Oh, sure, the Dems have multi-culti prince Barack Obama, and they have the extra added attraction of an openly-lesbian congresswoman in Wisconsin’s Tammy Baldwin to kick things off.

The Democrats also have keynoter Mayor Julian Castro and his fellow mayors Cory Booker, Michael Nutter, Antonio Villaraigosa and Anthony Foxx; California’s Attorney General Kamala Harris and Rep. Barbaba Lee; Illinois' own Tammy Duckworth; and TV personalities Cristina Saralegui and Eva Longoria.

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Paul Ryan may not have provided much of a bump to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign anywhere but in Wisconsin, but as the headlines popped up in South Florida late Wednesday, you know he’s gotta be feeling some relief that he didn’t go with Sen. Marco Rubio.

What, you can’t find anything about Rubio that’s particularly scandalous in the last few days? Look closely: Rubio’s BFF David Rivera, the Cuban-American GOP congressman from South Florida, provoked this lead graf on the Miami Herald's front page Wednesday morning:

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For all the outrage GOP presidential aspirant Mitt Romney has expressed over Missouri Republican candidate Todd Akin’s comments about “legitimate rape,” he’s probably a little glad Akin stuck his foot in it.

Why? Because how else were Romney and the other GOP bigwigs going to command the spotlight in such a way as to create the impression that the Republican Party isn’t really all that bad for women?

First of all, Akin: “From what I understand from doctors, pregnancy (from rape) is really rare. If it’s legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down.”

Even Romney couldn’t let that pass. “Congressman’s Akin comments on rape are insulting, inexcusable, and, frankly, wrong,” Romney said. “Like millions of other Americans, we found them to be offensive.”

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On the first day of President Barack Obama’s program to extend some measure of legal protection to undocumented youth, Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona signed an executive order that denies them any benefits in her state.

It’s just one more mean and spiteful move by Brewer. She’s getting the predictable accolades from far right wackos but it's another short-term move with long-term negative effects for Republicans among the country’s fastest growing population: Latinos.

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If Latinos are the great swing voters of 2012, what does Mitt Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan as the GOP's VP candidate mean? And where, if anywhere, will Ryan have an impact with Latinos?

Because he represents Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District, which is more than 90 percent white and only about 6 percent Hispanic, Rep. Ryan has not had a need to address issues with Latinos in mind, or with a message tailored in any special way for them.

So what does Ryan think about the issues important to Latinos?

According to a June 2012 Gallup poll, U.S. Hispanics are most concerned about (in this order) healthcare, unemployment, immigration, economic growth, the gap between the rich and the poor and the deficit.

Beck Research did a study at about the same time that echoed roughly the same sentiments with one crucial exception: Education.

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