0 political season. speak important a high and principled reason. and people will learn who you are. thanks for watching. i m al sharpton. msnbc s special coverage of the democratic national committee starts now. four years ago a major party nominated an african-american presidential candidate for the first time in american history. now nearly four years into his first term, with the war in iraq over and the war in afghanistan still on, with osama bin laden dead, auto industry rescued, economy out of the freefall it was in but nowhere near where it needs to be, tonight the democratic party makes its case for four more years for president barack obama. an address tonight from the first lady. keynote tonight from a young fast-rising star who even republicans say could be the first latino president. the democrats make their case for young voters, latinos, for women, middle class. it starts tonight. msnbc s prime time coverage of the democratic national committee begins right now. th
republicans say could be the first latino president. the democrats make their case for young voters, latinos, for women, middle class. it starts tonight. msnbc s prime time coverage of the democratic national committee begins right now. thank you for joining us. i m rachel maddow. here with me are ed schultz,al sharpton, steve shmitt. lawrence o donnell will be joining us as well. leading our coverage from charlotte, north carolina, the site of the democratic convention this year, it is, of course, my friend and colleague chris matthews. chris, the data is mixed on whether republicans got any sort of bump in the polls out of their convention last week. but beyond just the raw numbers, what do you think that the democrats most want and need to get done this week? well, the numbers may tell you something. there was no bounce at all hardly at all from the republicans. but for the difference in the sound and feel of the crowds, last week was like a business convention. peop