CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — President Barack Obama has arrived in Charlotte, N.C., for the Democratic National Convention and a high-stakes chance to make a case for re-election. Air Force One touched down Wednesday afternoon, hours after disappointed Democrats announced they had to abruptly change their plans.

FINDLAY, Ohio (AP) — Ann Romney fired back Wednesday at critics who have accused husband Mitt Romney of being out of touch with average Americans, saying her own bout with multiple sclerosis taught the family what it means to suffer and lose hope. "When people say that we've led a charmed life and we don't relate to people that are having trouble, I want to remind you that I've been in a very dark place, and I know what it is like to have no hope," Mrs. Romney said at a rally for women supporting her husband, the Republican presidential candidate, at the University of Findlay in Ohio. "So believe me when I tell you these words: We are there for you because we know what it feels like."

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Democratic Party's platform makes no reference to God, drawing criticism from Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan. Ryan tells Fox News' "Fox & Friends" the change is not in keeping with the country's founding documents and principles and suggests the Obama administration is behind the decision. The Republican platform mentions God 12 times.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan defended himself Tuesday against lingering questions about the accuracy of some of his recent statements. In interviews, Ryan disputed the notion that he misled voters in last week's convention speech while criticizing President Barack Obama's handling of debt reduction and the closure of a General Motors plant in his Wisconsin hometown. He also laughed off questions about why he understated his time in a marathon race by an hour.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mitt Romney's presidential campaign has raised at least $100 million in August, The Associated Press has learned, hitting that mark for a third consecutive month with a fundraising prowess that has let him outraise President Barack Obama so far this summer. The early numbers, which include money raised by the national Republican Party, will be publicly released next week. They were described by two people familiar with the figures who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share internal campaign matters.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Democrats open their national convention Tuesday offering President Barack Obama as America's best chance to revive the ragged U.S. economy and asking voters to be patient with incomplete results so far. Michelle Obama, in her opening-night speech, aims to give people a very personal reminder of "the man that he was before he was president." "The truth is that he has grown so much, but in terms of his core character and value, that has not been changed at all," Mrs. Obama said in interview airing on SiriusXM's "The Joe Madison Show."

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Democrats say answering the question of whether Americans are better off now than they were four years ago requires some context. Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren tells NBC's "Today" show Tuesday that people should remember how far the economy fell and how hard it is to get back from a time when the stock market was crashing and the auto industry was a mess. She says the real issue is who has the best plan to move forward.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — President Barack Obama consoled victims of Hurricane Isaac along the Gulf Coast on Monday and stoked the enthusiasm of union voters in the industrial heartland, blending a hard political sell with a softer show of sympathy on the eve of the Democratic National Convention. At times like these, "nobody's a Democrat or a Republican, we're all just Americans looking out for one another," the president said after inspecting damage inflicted by the storm and hugging some of its victims. He was flanked by local and state officials of both parties as he spoke.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — It's a question that aides to any president seeking re-election should be ready to handle: Are Americans better off now than before he took office? This seemingly simple query, however, flummoxed President Barack Obama's team over the Labor Day weekend, throwing the campaign on the defensive just as the Democrats are about to open their national convention.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Union activists walked a political tightrope on Monday — voicing support for President Barack Obama's re-election bid while lamenting adversarial attitudes toward organized labor in the state Democrats chose for the presidential nominating convention. More than 300 people marched in the Charlotte Labor Day Parade a day before the kickoff of the Democratic National Convention, carrying signs, wearing matching shirts and chanting. In contrast to a protest the previous day, the atmosphere was overwhelmingly pro-Obama, family-friendly and generally low-key. The police presence was much lighter.