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The Democratic National Convention is a chance for President Obama to fire up his base, reach out to independent voters and try to erase the messages put out last week at the Republican convention. The horse race, meanwhile, is stuck where its been for months: Romney and Obama are tied with any lead well within the margin of error.

Steve Inskeep talks to Bob Murphy, mayor of Lakewood, Colo., about voters' concerns. Thousands of people there have jobs related to the government. Lakewood is in Jefferson County, a swing county, where the population is evenly divided among Republicans, Democrats and Independents.

In his latest true-crime account, Errol Morris argues that a man found guilty of a triple murder never should have been convicted. Morris makes the case for Jeffrey MacDonald's innocence by questioning the character and competence of the investigators.

A Secret Service agent was on Mitt Romney's campaign plane last week, and left a gun in the bathroom. A TV producer found it and returned it. And agents protecting Vice President Biden reported a truck rented to carry equipment for Biden's Labor Day visit to Detroit was stolen. It's been recovered.

Automakers are proving to be a bright spot in a slow-growing economy. Chrysler led the pack in August sales jumps at 15 percent, with the Ram pickup and Dodge Dart moving briskly. Ford got a boost from pickups and SUVs, with a 13 percent jump in August sales. GM's sales were up 10 percent.

Thor Hanson's new book looks at the evolutionary significance of feathers in birds. Hanson tells Fresh Air that he's amazed by birds' magnitude of feathers, how feathers grow and how they're the "most efficient insulation known."

Lawyers are filing lawsuits against South Africa's three largest gold mining companies on behalf of former employees who now have lung diseases. A recent court ruling has paved the way for the cases. Under apartheid, poor, black miners often labored under difficult conditions.

For years, School 16 in Rochester, N.Y., has been on the decline. The school's building was falling apart, and test scores were on a steady decline. Now, the school's move to a newer, nicer building brings hope that a better building could spell better academic performance.

Castro will become the first Latino to give the keynote at a Democratic convention, so the stakes are high for a relative unknown.

Mitt Romney and the Republicans appear to have benefited from their convention last week, enjoying a modest boost in the polls, and now the Democrats get to respond. Will President Obama's convention suffer after the GOP's hot outing in Tampa? Or will Charlotte serve as a premature victory lap, as many second conventions have?