Democrats, Michelle Obama | featured news

The patchwork quilt that is the Democratic Party base -- women, Latinos, African-Americans -- will be on full display at Tuesday night's opening session of the national party convention. The highlight will be a prime-time address by First Lady Michelle Obama who is expected to play the same role Ann Romney did one week ago at the GOP gathering in Tampa: eschewing hard-edged politics for a soft-focus testimonial to her husband.

A week before the midterm elections, Michelle Obama said Monday that the race for the congressional majority is "too close" and voters must recapture the energy that swept her husband and fellow Democrats to power in 2008.