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MORNING MESSAGE: Stopping The Lies

OurFuture.org's Bill Scher: "Democrats have been increasingly frustrated that not even an army of fact-checkers has been able shame the Romney-Ryan campaign from stopping their lies about Medicare savings, welfare requirements, the Janesville GM plant and more. The shamelessness is unlikely to abate. But Bill Clinton may make them pay a steep price. Part of what makes Clinton a unique figure in American politics is that the camera stays on him longer. Most politicians get cut off trying to explain things, but never Clinton. And he uses that to his advantage. Last night, he used it to debunk the lies."

Clinton Brings The Substance

Clinton makes policy-based argument for re-electin. TNR's Jonathan Cohn: "Clinton … offered a detailed defense of Obama’s accomplishments—the creation of a new student loan system, the rescue of the auto industry, and, yes, the enactment of health care reform. He reveled in minutiae, whether it was describing the schematics of the auto supply chain or boasting that Obama’s student loan reforms would allow students to repay loans at a 'a clear, fixed, low percentage of their income for up to 20 years.' (How many politicians could deliver that line and get cheers for it?)"

And reminds who caused the economic crisis. TPM: "His remarks took dead aim at the heart of Romney’s campaign theme: that whatever bad hand Obama was dealt in 2009, today’s unemployment figures belong to him. Romney’s case, Clinton said: 'We left a mess. He has not cleaned it up fast enough, so put us back in.'"

Warren Carries The Middle Class Torch

Elizabeth Warren shows why she's seen as a middle-class champion. WSJ: "'For many years now, our middle class has been chipped, squeezed, and hammered,' Ms. Warren said, noting that many Americans feel the economy is 'rigged.' She added, 'here’s the painful part: they’re right.' … she sought to tie Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney to what she described as an uneven playing field, bringing up his comment from last year that 'corporations are people.' 'No, Gov. Romney, corporations are not people. People have hearts, they have kids, they get jobs, they get sick, they cry, they dance,' Ms. Warren said, declaring that 'we don’t run this country for corporations, we run it for people.'"

Warren speech seeks to make Senate race about issues. Roll Call: "[Bay State Republicans] are closely watching Warren’s ability to make the race a referendum on national issues rather than personality, a turn of events that would be bad news for [Sen. Scott] Brown, who remains well-liked in the Bay State even as Republicans aren’t."

Warren not only addressed the convention, she shaped its entire message. The American Prospect's Monica Potts: "A little more than a year ago, Elizabeth Warren told a supporter in a living room in Andover, Massachusetts, that 'there is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody.' … That idea has been borrowed by nearly every speaker at the DNC, and Warren repeated it last night … they trotted out small-business owners who said, repeatedly, that no, they didn’t build that alone …"

We Built It Together (While Mitt Destroyed It)

Former employees for companies Bain destroyed tell their stories. CBS: "Randy Johnson, a former factory worker whose company folded under Bain's watch, made the case that Romney 'will stick it to the working people' while the president 'is sticking up for the working people - it's as simple as that. … I don't fault him for the fact that some companies win and some companies lose - that's a fact of life. What I fault him for is making money without a moral compass. I fault him for putting profits ahead of working people like me. But that's just Romney economics.'"

UAW chief praises auto bailout as "the right thing to do." WSJ: "Standing up for what is right 'when it’s unpopular is a true test of moral character,' union President Bob King said in his speech to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. 'In the face of tremendous political venom, President Obama met the test of moral character.'"

Auto sales up. Mother Jones' Kevin Drum: "[LA Times reports] 'Total auto sales for the month were just under 1.3 million, 19.9% higher than a year earlier. That would put the annual pace at 14.5 million vehicles, the best of any month since the federal "cash for clunkers" economic stimulus program in August 2009 …' The Big Three all have at least a fighting chance at long-term survival, a million workers still have jobs, and the economy is starting to recover. Not bad."

Costco founder and former CEO praises Obama as friend of business. Bloomberg: "Companies need 'a president who takes the long view and makes the tough decisions,' said Sinegal … 'In Tampa last week, we heard all about job creators, but at our company, we recognize that job creation requires time and investment and commitment to the long term,' Sinegal said. 'It requires companies that plant and grow, not executives who reap and run.'"

Rep. Chris Van Hollen rips Republican debt hypocrisy: "If Paul Ryan was honest, he would have pointed to that debt clock and said, ‘We built that.'"

Obama's Turn

What will President Obama say tonight about a second term agenda? TNR's Michael Waldman: "What would he do, if he could, to restore robust economic growth? What is his vision of immigration reform? Of an ideal tax code? How—concretely—can we restore the middle class? … It’s impossible to frame a choice between two policy approaches if you won’t say what yours is."

GOP VP nominee Paul Ryan requested ObamaCare funds. The Nation: "On December 10, 2010, Ryan penned a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services to recommend a grant application for the Kenosha Community Health Center, Inc to develop a new facility in Racine … The grant Ryan requested was funded directly by the Affordable Care Act [which] provides for a sweeping expansion of such clinics, including $9.5 billion for operating costs to existing community health centers and $1.5 billion for new construction."

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