From Las Vegas Blvd... To Eastern Ave.

She considers herself to be a "daughter of Eastern Avenue". She grew up off Eastern Avenue. Her campaign office is now on Eastern Avenue. And she vows to represent "Eastern Avenue values" should she be elected into Congress.

Erin Bilbray is now running in the 3rd Congressional District, which spans from Laughlin to Summerlin. And the Eastern Avenue corridor is probably the beating heart of this district. But last weekend, Erin Bilbray ventured to another iconic Southern Nevada street, Las Vegas Boulevard, to address the Clark County Democratic Party Convention.



On Saturday, Bilbray explained her "Eastern Avenue values". And she drew a stark contrast between her values and her opponent's.



Bilbray described the current state of Congress. She hinted at her opponent's contribution to that current state of Congress. And she talked about what she wants to do in Congress and how she wants to change the climate of Capitol Hill should she arrive there next year.



Make no mistake. Another hot campaign season is simmering in NV-03. Expect to see plenty of signs along Eastern Avenue, as well as all the other major thoroughfares of NV-03.

Erin Bilbray has been touting "Eastern Avenue values". It's not just about that street. It's about the communities along that street. It's about the people who commute to & from work along that street. And it's about the reality of the 3rd Congressional District that's seen up and down Eastern Avenue.

And ultimately, this campaign may be won or lost on Eastern Avenue.

(Not the) End of the Road

Late in 2010, it looked like she was approaching the end of the road. She had lost a hard fought reelection race. Between that and narrowly losing the statewide gubernatorial election of 2006, plenty of political pundits were declaring the death of Dina Titus' political career.

Obviously, they spoke too soon. The following year, redistricting changed the game. And Dina Titus was ready for a comeback.



She did face a rather interesting race in 2012... But she ultimately won. And not only did she win, but she dominated. And she definitely made her way back to Congress.

And since returning to Congress, Rep. Dina Titus (D-Paradise) has been working quite hard on a number of critical issues. And she hasn't forgotten why she's there in the first place.

Last Saturday, Rep. Dina Titus came to the Clark County Democratic Party Convention and addressed the crowd. Some of them were her former constituents, while others are her current constituents. Regardless, she wanted to fire them all up and get them ready for the 2014 cycle.



While Rep. Titus herself doesn't have to worry about her reelection race this year, she does seem to want to return to a Congress that's actually functioning. And that means her work is not yet finished. It's far from the end of the road for her, or for her fellow Nevada Democrats.

Public Service

Let's just say his district has been through a lot lately. Nevada's 4th Congressional District has only existed since 2012, yet it's now becoming famous across the nation. But sadly, that fame is at least partially due to Cliven Bundy and his merry gang of "outlaw cowboys".

Last week, the Bundy Gang again made news when they descended into total armed madness. Think "Lord of the Flies: Nevada Edition". They threatened each other. And they've been wreaking havoc throughout the Virgin Valley.

Law abiding residents there have had enough of the armed madness. And so has their Member of Congress, Rep. Steven Horsford (D-North Las Vegas). He addressed the Clark County Democratic Party Convention on Saturday... And didn't hold back when he mentioned the #BundyRanch fiasco that's still plaguing his constituents.







And he didn't stop there. Rep. Steven Horsford has been working on a number of critical issues since arriving in Washington 16 months ago. And he hasn't let anything stopped his work, not even #BundyRanch.

On Saturday, Rep. Horsford also talked about what he wants to accomplish in Congress. And yes, this means he wants Congress to start accomplishing good, meaningful things again.



Rep. Horsford hasn't forgotten why he was elected to Congress in the first place. It's about public service. It's about serving the people. It's about serving the community.



Nevada's 4th Congressional District has only existed since 2012. And Steven Horsford has only been in Congress since 2013. But already, he's making his mark on Capitol Hill. And he wants his constituents to know he hasn't forgotten why they sent him to Congress in the first place.

It's about public service. And even during these trying times for Nevada's 4th Congressional District, Rep. Horsford refuses to let up on doing his job.

The Rude Awakening

I certainly had my own thoughts on what happened last night, but what about the people who were actually there?

[Delegate Laurie Haley from Reno] said she is anxious to go home and start making phone calls and knocking on doors for Obama and for U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Las Vegas, who is running for U.S. Senate.

“I’m ready to go home and make a difference,” she said. “I’m so energized that my husband probably won’t be able to live with me for the next 60 days until the election.”

Haley said she is better off than she was before Obama took office, in part because of his support for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which makes it easier for women to sue employers for paying them less than men for the same jobs. The law was the first that Obama signed after taking office.

“It means that women like me won’t be paid 23 cents less than men for doing the same work,” Haley said. “That adds up to a lot of money per week,per month, per year and over the course of a career. It affects the quality of our lives.”

And this is exactly what the Democratic Convention was aimed to accomplish. With all the pundits' talk of "enthusiasm gaps" and "disillusionment", Democrats wanted to dispel that talk and show how Democrats are still fired up and ready to go. This week's convention in Charlotte went a long way in doing this.

But today, it looks like the economy is chiming in... And frankly, it isn't sounding all that great. However, we can't forget that exactly one year ago, President Obama offered a solution.

The American electorate was clamoring for action on jobs; the Obama White House crafted a credible plan that would be helping enormously right now; and congressional Republicans reflexively killed the Americans Jobs Act for partisan and ideological reasons.

With this recent history in mind, how are we to assign responsibility for high unemployment? Should we condemn the person who threw the job market a life preserver, or those who pushed it away? Or put another way, are we better off now as a result of Republican obstructionism and intransigence, or would we have been better off if the popular and effective job-creation measures had been approved?

By any reasonable measure, the GOP argument, which will be trumpeted loudly today, is completely incoherent -- they were wrong a year ago and now we're paying the price.

When we really think about it, we're lucky the economy created 96,000 jobs last month. Despite the constant G-O-TEA obstruction and economic sabotage, we're still seeing some kind of economic recovery.

However, it can be better. That's precisely why President Obama proposed the American Jobs Act last September. It would have created 1.9 million more jobs and an extra 2% worth of GDP growth this year. Yet instead of working with President Obama to speed up economic recovery, G-O-TEA politicians just kept obstructing.

Oh, and some G-O-TEA acolytes actually went further in proposing legislation to worsen our economic problems and throw America into depression! In fact, Nevada's own Dean Heller and Joe Heck both proposed bills last November aimed at slashing public investment in our economy precisely when our economy needed that investment the most.

Again, when taking this into consideration, it's actually a bit of a minor miracle that our economy is still growing and creating jobs. And it's become increasingly clear that our economy needs more investment, NOT LESS. This is what we started to hear from President Obama last night in Charlotte, and this is what we need to hear more from him about next Wednesday here in Las Vegas.

But let's face it, we still won't see enough progress if we don't see significant change in Congress. And this is the case President Obama and Congressional Democrats must make in order to sweep away the austerity nonsense and work on delivering real economic growth.

Obama Electrified Charlotte... & Is About to Light Up Las Vegas!

What a difference a week makes! Last Friday, we discussed Clint Eastwood and his hilarious "interaction" with an empty chair. Tonight, we're talking about Barack Obama and a fully enthusiastic Democratic Party that he fired up last night so they could be ready to go (win the election).



Next Wednesday, President Obama will be returning to Las Vegas to give us Nevadans front row seats to a glimpse of what to expect in his second term.

So what will Obama be saying to us? Well, I think he just gave us a good idea when he addressed the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. Here it is in a nutshell.

#YouWereTheChange & #YouDidThat totally blew up whole premise of #rnc2012 Sorry #teaparty . darn that @BarackObama #DNC2012 #p2

Tonight, President Obama brought back "Hope & Change". He made inspiration cool again. And he pretty much slayed the ugly cynicism that the "tea party" has championed for these past three years.

Perhaps the most amazing aspect of President Obama's speech was that he turned the "patriotism" charge on its head. Come on, how many times have we heard teabaggers call progressives "unpatriotic"? Tonight, President Obama reclaimed patriotism for progressives by explaining how and why investing in a stronger middle class makes for true American patriotism. That was simply brilliant.

And this is what Nevada Democrats can look forward to next Wednesday. So who's fired up & ready to go now?

The Women: Their Bodies, Their Health, & Their Votes

Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida) also happens to be the Chair of the Democratic National Committee. And in addition to that, she's a committed mother and family woman. Oh yes, and she's a cancer survivor.



And she's not alone. Millions more Americans have been struggling to afford health care, and they've had to endure gruesome discrimination just because they have "pre-existing conditions". And yes, one of those "pre-existing conditions" was simply being a woman. Earlier this year, Nevada women arose to thank President Obama for making health care reform a reality and delivering more affordable and comprehensive health care for women across our state and our country.



Contrary to the lies and endless spin coming from the G-O-TEA, the Affordable Care Act is delivering real, quality, affordable health care for American women. Discrimination is no longer tolerated. Preventive care is now more accessible. Insurance is becoming more affordable. And yes, contraception is now covered.

Yet while President Obama has been working to move our country forward in developing better health care policy, Mitt Romney and his G-O-TEA have been working overtime to not only take away women's health care... But actually try to force them to follow their extreme "tea party" anti-woman ideology!

And of course, Dean Heller and Joe Heck have studiously followed Mitt Romney's and Paul Ryan's lead in attacking women's health care. Remember what Romney, Heller, and Heck have said and done.

The more Americans learn about the G-O-TEA's radical anti-woman agenda, the more they reject it. Maybe Heck's BFF Mitt Romney gets excited about attacking women's right to make their own health care decisions, but the vast majority of Nevadans are not. Just take a look at all the health care services that the G-O-TEA faction in Congress wants to deny to American women! Once Americans figure out what they actually mean when they wax poetic about "liberty", they turn off to the G-O-TEA ideal of giving employers "liberty" in denying preventive health care to women for whatever "religious" excuse they want to throw out.

And Joe Heck still wants to claim that "this has nothing to do with women's health issues"?

Nevada women don't want any more empty rhetoric. And they certainly don't appreciate the radical "tea party" War on Women that Romney, Ryan, Heller, and Heck all seem to revel in. Rather, they just want to see results on delivering quality, affordable health care. Perhaps G-O-TEA "culture warriors" like Joe Heck have to keep spewing out empty rhetoric because they really have nothing else to run on.

Under the Affordable Care Act, Americans like the ones featured above will see expanded access to low-cost and no-cost preventive care, no more limits on lifetime coverage, an end to discrimination based on pre-existing conditions, and (of course) more affordable health insurance. [...]

Perhaps this explains why Joe Heck is now claiming he just wants to "fix" health care reform instead of outright destroying it. However, Heck won't say that his bill largely has that same effect. The "onerous regulations and mandates" he complains about are the very provisions that are working to save Americans' lives. Oh, and by the way, those regulations and mandates that Joe Heck complains about help in cutting the federal budget deficit by $143 billion over the next ten years. If the ACA is repealed, not only are those savings erased, but the deficit actually INCREASES by $230 billion in the next ten years. [...]

And this is what Joe Heck and his BFF, Mitt Romney, don't understand. Perhaps they never have to worry about health care costs, but all the rest of us do. And all the rest of us would very much appreciate expanded access to the health care we need, along with immense savings that actually result in reducing the budget deficit.

As we've discussed before, there's no actual, legitimate policy or legal argument for repealing the Affordable Care Act that Republicans can make, at least if we're to believe they're actually interested in improving health care in this country. So why are they still pulling out this ridiculous "dog & pony show" threatening repeal of the ACA? Simple. They're playing raw politics, and they're hoping they can keep riling up uninformed voters with scary images of "OBAMACARE!!!" What scares the likes of Joe Heck the most is the most recent Pew poll suggesting that as more Americans become more aware of what's actually in "Obamacare", the more they like it.

This is why the Romney-Ryan-Heller-Heck G-O-TEA has to keep spewing lies about the Affordable Care Act. And this is why they fear what happens when more Americans hear stories like Debbie Wasserman Schultz's. Believe it or not, Obamacare works for Nevada's women.

What John Lewis Said.

John Lewis may now be a Congressman from Georgia... But his story didn't start on Capitol Hill. He's experienced first hand the struggle for civil rights, a struggle that we are still enduring now. And just moments ago at the Democratic National Convention in neighboring North Carolina, John Lewis spoke so poignantly about one of the most gruesome civil rights violations of our time.



Yes, you heard me right... And you heard him right.

And believe it or not, this issue is still lingering at our doorstep.

Especially as the Latino and Asian-American populations continue to grow here in Nevada and OFA & Nevada Democrats continue to target these communities for intense voter registration, Republicans will continue to feel the heat. This is why they're trying to spin away this inconvenient truth with puffed up chests and fluffed up "non-troversy". Of course, this is also why some Nevada Republicans have pursued voter suppression and Kris Kobach/Arizona G-O-TEA style "papers please" scare tactics to try to hold down the minority vote share.

So why are they so scared? It's simple, really. Until now, they've used xenophobia to win elections. And in using that xenophobia, they've alienated minority communities. So now that they're voting in larger numbers, the tables are turning and some Republicans are now realizing they're on the losing end of the equation.

Just last year, my own (now outgoing) Assembly Member spearheaded legislation designed to implement voter suppression. And even though Nevada has so far resisted these efforts to suppress the vote, the G-O-TEA has no plans to stop trying any time soon. In fact, one of their own batshit crazy leaders continues to beat the drums for voter suppression.



Well, here's what she and her "TEA" fueled conspiracy theory fan club "movement" don't want you to see.



Yet this is something John Lewis knows all too well. Don't ignore his warning to us.

Big Dog

He's back! And he won't back down.

With Republicans scheming to divide them and reporters reviving silly 2008 storylines to predict disaster, former President Clinton and President Obama got the last laugh: Obama joined his predecessor on stage, for his first appearance in Charlotte. Clinton actually bowed to Obama when the president came out. It wasn’t clear whether it was a bow of deference, or of a proud performer to an appreciative audience. You could both men them savoring the way they’d confounded the trouble-makers.

Republicans will rue the day they dragged Bill Clinton into this fight with their welfare reform lies and their silly claims that Obama is a socialist defiling Clinton’s centrist legacy. Clinton can say things Obama can’t. He vividly laid out the depth of the economic challenge his successor faced –as well as the right-wing hatred. “Though I often disagree with Republicans,” said the man who was impeached by the other party, “I never learned to hate them the way the far right that now controls their party seems to hate our president.” The Republicans’ “number one priority,” he said, “was not to put America back to work, it was to put the president out of work.” By contrast Obama, he said, was “committed to constructive cooperation –heck, he even appointed Hillary!”

Clinton also summed up the 2012 campaign more clearly than any other surrogate: “We believe that ‘we’re all in this together’ is a far better philosophy than ‘you’re on your own.’”

Last night, President Clinton completed the picture that Harry Reid and Michelle Obama started drawing. President Obama did try to include Republicans in "grand bargains" and "bipartisan solutions". They said no. Even when he was putting together tangible solutions to our economic woes, they kept saying no.

Yet now, these same "TEA" fueled Republicans want us to forget their role in stalling economic recovery so they can finish what George W. Bush started? This is where Clinton and Obama want voters to say no to the G-O-TEA. And perhaps in the coming weeks, their wish will finally be granted.

What President Clinton did last night was astounding. He took every argument that Mitt Romney has been using against President Obama, then he debunked it, turned it on its head, and fully discredited Romney like no one else could. After all, who would understand the challenges of building lasting economic recovery better than someone who actually made it happen?

As Salon's Joan Walsh suggested above, Team Romney must be regretting the day they pulled "Big Dog" Clinton into their fight. In his case, his bark and his bite can really pack a potent punch. And they did last night- for Obama.

The Women

While the media focused their attention on other speakers, there was one person who really set the convention hall in Charlotte last night. And unlike the blustery politicians who blithely crapped on President Obama's record in Tampa last week, she actually knows all too well the value of something President Obama signed into law at the very start of his term.



Lilly Ledbetter reminded the crowd of both her personal struggle and the continuing struggle of working women in America. While there's been plenty of progress in working towards workplace equality, there's still more work to do. Yet when the Paycheck Fairness Act came up for a vote, Republicans shot it down... And yes, Nevada's own Dean Heller proudly (??!!) joined in the effort to kill the Paycheck Fairness Act. Apparently for him and his G-O-TEA colleagues, equal pay for equal work and economic security for America's working women are just another "job killing regulation" (never mind the data proving otherwise).

Earlier last night, several Democratic Congresswomen addressed the convention. They also know the President's record very well. And they know all too well what the G-O-TEA extremists in Congress have done to not just undermine President Obama politically, but truly wage war on women.



Mitt Romney has certainly been going out of his way to fully endorse the G-O-TEA War on Women. So of course, Dean Heller and Joe Heck joined with Romney's running mate Paul Ryan to fight the religious right's battles to take away women's rights... Even to the point of trying to redefine rape! And then to top it all off, Joe Heck has fought alongside his House G-O-TEA comrades in fighting the bipartisan (!!!) Violence Against Women Act. I'm still wondering when helping rape victims and domestic violence victims became so "controversial".

Last night, NARAL's Nancy Keenan also spoke at the Democratic Convention. She made it clear that this election will be a very important choice for women to decide.



And this will indeed be a critical choice here in Nevada. Dean Heller and Joe Heck just keep going put of their way to join with Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, and the most radical elements of the G-O-TEA in waging war against the concept of equality for women. Even when it seems like "the issue is dying down", some teabagger always seems to find a way to bring it back to the forefront. Funny enough, Romney, Heller, and Heck always try to dismiss their own party's "women problem" as just "partisan Democrat attacks". Yet if that's the case, why are they always backing up their party when it rehashes these battles in Congress and in their own party's platform? They still don't realize they can't have it both ways.

And they still don't get what women want. Sure, women care about a whole host of issues, issues like health care, education, and economic justice. And guess what? Their party doesn't make sense on those issues, either! If these Republicans had engaged in sensible dialogue to reach common sense solutions to encourage economic recovery and a sound future for America's middle class, we wouldn't even be having this discussion now. But because Republicans allowed their party to be taken over by "tea party" extremists, then followed the "tea party" lead on obstructing economic recovery efforts while pushing "TEH CUL'CHUR WARZZZ!!!" instead, they must now face the wrath of the women they've been threatening and bullying with their forced ultrasounds, attempts to redefine rape, attempts to defund women's health care, and all around continued assaults on women's rights. So when Mitt Romney and his Nevada Republican BFFs whine again about complaints from "the women", remember that they only have themselves to blame for agreeing to wage war on women.

"The Closer" Opens Up

Remember when Michelle Obama came here to Henderson in June? Remember when she pumped up the crowd? And remember when she so beautifully and seamlessly tied powerful personal stories to progressive policy and Presidential politics?

Well, she did it again last night. And she may have very well outdone herself in Charlotte.



TPM's Benjy Sarlin may have very well nailed the pure political beauty of what Michelle Obama accomplished in Charlotte last night.

[Mitt] Romney’s name may have never come up in the First Lady’s speech once, but it was impossible to miss the message when she described learning from her parents that “you don’t take shortcuts or play by your own set of rules — and success doesn’t count unless you earn it fair and square,” or that “helping others means more than just getting ahead yourself.”

“[Obama] believes that when you’ve worked hard, and done well, and walked through that doorway of opportunity you do not slam it shut behind you,” she said at one point. “You reach back, and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed.”

Throughout her speech, Michelle Obama portrayed her husband as someone who didn’t just know what it was like to be down and out, but someone who had enacted his major policies specifically because of it. She singled out health care reform in particular, of which she said, “He didn’t care whether it was the easy thing to do politically — that’s not how he was raised — he cared that it was the right thing to do.”

“Barack knows the American dream because he’s lived it,” she said. “And he wants everyone in this country to have that same opportunity, no matter who we are, or where we’re from, or what we look like, or who we love.”

What was truly amazing about Michelle Obama's speech was that she was able to paint a rather detailed portrait of the choice voters must make this fall, yet she was able to do it without mentioning Romney by name. Perhaps she didn't have to. It's not too hard to figure out who Mitt Romney really is and what he's out to do.

What Michelle Obama did last night was remind Americans that her story and her husband's story are truly American stories. They came from modest beginnings, worked their way through school, and struggled their way to success. And in progressing on their journey, they took advantage of the unique opportunity, which is the American opportunity of giving anyone a chance at success by providing public education and a social safety net meant to prevent Americans from becoming trapped in poverty. What makes America great is our middle class, and that's what Michelle Obama truly personified.

And this is why her husband somehow still manages to defy the DC pundits' odds. It's been said OFA staff refer to Michelle Obama as "The Closer". Last night, America had a chance to see why.

The Contrast Harry Reid Pointed Out

See, I told you so. He went there.

In a speech Tuesday at the Democratic National Convention, the Senate Majority Leader portrayed the Republican Party as "naysayers" and elitists who favor the wealthy over the middle class, and called Romney the biggest proponent of a "rigged game."

Last month Reid claimed without proof that Romney may not have paid income taxes for years despite his wealth.

Romney has denied it, and Reid refused to say who had told him otherwise.

In his speech Tuesday, Reid praised President Obama for his handling of the Great Recession and health care reform, and said re-electing Obama will move the country forward.

Note to Mitt Romney and the Nevada G-O-TEA: Don't mess with Harry Reid.

Oh, and here is something else to remember.

People can and should argue about whether Obama's successes have been worthwhile, whether they were ambitious enough, and whether they were effective, but whether one approves of the president or not, the fact remains the successes are real.

This is a president who passed a health-care reform breakthrough 100 years in the making. He also imposed the most sweeping Wall Street reforms since the Great Depression. Obama also rescued the economy from collapse, rescued the American auto industry, ended the war in Iraq, decimated al Qaeda and killed bin Laden, reformed the student loan system, ended "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," vastly improved fuel efficiency standards, helped topple the Gaddafi regime, negotiated the New START treaty, improved food safety protections, cracked down on credit card company abuses, expanded stem-cell research, and signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

Republicans disapprove of these measures, as is their right. But to say the president "has no record to run on" is kind of silly, even by Paul Ryan standards.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Last week, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan tried to convince us that President Obama is "lazy" and "failed to deliver on his promises". And this week, they want us to disregard the fact that the economy has been healing under President Obama. Romney's ideological sibling, George W. Bush, drove the economy into recession. And Romney would return America to Bush era policies if elected.


Tonight, Harry Reid pointed out the clear contrast. While Mitt Romney has been making ideological backflips, pandering to teabaggers, promoting the very policies that would throw America into the kind of austerity driven "Greater Recession" now ravaging Europe, and hiding his financial records, President Obama has been busy getting our country back on track. This is what Harry Reid made clear tonight, and this is what may very well tip the election this fall.

Who's Still Afraid of Harry Reid? (Hint: Willard)

Remember when Mitt Romney's professional campaign spinners and various media pundits were rushing for their smelling salts because of "Big Bad Harry Reid!!!"? Well, great ready for Round 4... And perhaps a TKO?

During his speech to the Democratic National Convention tonight, Reid plans to keep up the pressure on Romney to release his tax returns. Reid is scheduled to speak about 4 p.m. Pacific time.

Although Nevada’s DNC delegation hopes sticking with that line will increase the crowd-pleasing quotient of the majority leader’s speech, they’re being cautious about predicting how rousing they expect Reid’s rhetoric to be.

“Harry is not flashy. He’s not a great orator. But his message is very straightforward, and it’s very sincere,” said Linda Cavazos, a Nevada delegate and an Obama for America volunteer.

“The thing I like about Harry Reid is he gets up there and he speaks in his nice, soft voice, and people shut up and listen to him,” said Richard Collins, a Nevada delegate. [...]

“I was having a conversation with the president about this,” Patrick Gaspard, the executive director of the Democratic National Committee, told the Nevada delegation over breakfast Monday morning. “The president said, ‘I don’t know why the Romney campaign is choosing to challenge Harry Reid on this issue. Don’t they know that this guy was a boxing champion in the Army and the way he won was by letting the other guy just pummel on him for round after round, wear him out and then take him out at the end?’"

And this is what makes me laugh. Mitt Romney and his professional G-O-TEA media spinners keep looking for ways to discredit Harry Reid. But the more they try to discredit him, the more foolish they look for their continuing clumsy attempts to hide the truth about Mitt Romney.

Seriously, if Mitt Romney paid what he really owed in taxes, why won't he release his tax returns? If Mitt Romney really wasn't involved in outsourcing formerly American jobs overseas when he was in charge of Bain Capital, then why won't he let Bain release its records? If Mitt Romney hasn't been hiding his money in overseas tax shelters far away from the IRS' purview, then why won't he tell the truth about his financial records? And if Mitt Romney really has a realistic plan to put more American workers back to work, then why won't he or Paul Ryan mention any specifics on his "Magical Mystery Jobs Plan"?

This is why Harry Reid is more than happy to continue calling out "Mendacious Mittens" for his not so honest ways. And this is why Mitt Romney continues to fear that "Big Bad Harry Reid!!!" No really, Reid's speech tonight should be fun to watch.

What a Difference a Week Makes

Remember this?

Even though Republican leaders want to make it seem like they're now a "diverse and inclusive party", reality just doesn't sync with them. Even Mitt Romney himself has basically conceded that his base is overwhelmingly old, white, and straight (and majority male on top of all that), and that his only plausible path to victory lies in fueling racial tension.

Now, see this.

The Republican convention in Tampa revealed a deep bench of talented women and minority leaders, many of whom were given prime speaking slots. But the delegates and convention-goers were overwhelmingly white (despite high-profile speeches from Condoleezza Rice, Mia Love and Artur Davis, for example, only 2 percent of actual delegates at the RNC were black), a fact that the Democratic convention organizers in Charlotte pointed out several times as they detailed the week ahead in a press conference Monday.

Declaring Democrats the “party of openness,” Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the convention chairman, said this convention “will be the most diverse in history, and we’re very proud of that. You’ll see people from every walk of life: rich, poor, black, white, Latino, Asian, Christians, Jews, Muslims … we’re all here celebrating this great vision of ours.”

Twenty-seven percent of Democratic delegates are black (up from 24 percent in 2008), and 50 percent are women, according to Alice Germond, the Democratic National Committee secretary.

“This is truly the most diverse, the most open, the most transparent, the most exciting convention we’re about to undertake,” Germond told reporters. “It is big, it is bold, it is beautiful, it is America.”

And remember this?

[Ron] Paul's troops refuse to go away quietly. And actually, they've already been causing trouble for the entire Nevada delegation. For one, the Nevada delegation has been placed in "the nosebleed section" of the convention center. And to make things worse, the big name G-O-TEA politicians are staying away from them. And since conventions are often defined by access and "schmoozing", it really hurts for the Romney alternates who wanted to enjoy the "pomp and circumstance" of the convention.

Now, see this.

In Nevada’s case, there’s no comparison: The Democrats are wooing much harder than the Republicans did.

This week, when Nevada’s delegates gather for their daily state breakfast meetings, they will be feted by practically every Democratic party A-lister short of President Barack Obama.

The week’s scheduled roster of breakfast speakers and schmoozers includes Democratic National Convention chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz; permanent convention chairman Antonio Villaraigosa, the mayor of Los Angeles; Obama campaign manager Jim Messina; top Obama counselor and White House congressional liaison Pete Rouse; and at least two members of the president’s Cabinet.

It is a far cry from the treatment Nevada received at the Republican National Convention last week in Tampa, Fla., where delegates were ignored by everyone but the most fringe figures of the GOP, such as the Republican voter fraud watchdog group “True the Vote” and 2010’s Tea Party darling Sharron Angle. Even when House Speaker John Boehner and Mitt Romney’s son and surrogate Josh came by the delegation’s hotel to speak with the Pennsylvania representatives, they steered sharply clear of the Nevada breakfast room down the hall.

So for one, Democrats are set to have a truly diverse body from top to bottom present at theory convention in Charlotte this week. Unlike the Republicans, Democrats seem to actually be matching words with action when it comes to respecting and embracing the diversity of America.

And secondly, Nevada Democrats actually look to be getting the red carpet treatment in Charlotte this week. This is obviously totally different from what happened to Nevada Republicans in Tampa last week. I wonder why this is happening (snark).

So already, it looks like there will be a wholly different tone in Charlotte, especially when it comes to how Nevada is viewed and how the delegation looks more like America. We'll have to wait and see what happens next as the week unfolds. But so far, we can already see what a difference a week makes.