MSNBC

Former Gov. Mitt Romney blasted Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's plan for the economy Monday morning, suggesting that it would push the country further into a recession.

"There is no question," Romney said on MSNBC's Morning Joe, "that Barack Obama's economic plans would prolong a recession, make it more difficult for us to come out of a recession, and make life a lot tougher for Americans."

The former governor, a frequent surrogate for Republican presidential nominee John McCain on economic issues, was also asked about Obama's remark about "spreading the wealth around" that the McCain campaign has used in several recent ads.

Talking Points Memo's Josh Marshall is up with a video showing MSNBC analysts Chuck Todd, Mike Murphy, and Peggy Noonan more-or-less trash talking the selection of Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) as U.S. Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) running mate on Wednesday.

The audio quality isn't great, but at one point Todd sounds like he's telling the two conservative analysts: "I also think the Palin pick is insulting to Kay Bailey Hutchison." He then says something to the effect that Hutchison's "never looked comfortable about this." 

Detail of Daryl Cagle's cartoon that is causing a stir among readers and newspaper editors.: (click image for full cartoon)Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's announcement that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is five months pregnant opened cries from both sides of the aisle about what news is legitimate to cover in a presidential campaign.

Daryl Cagle, the editorial cartoonist for MSNBC.com and owner of the Cagle Cartoons syndicate, entered the fray unintentionally with a cartoon he filed yesterday.

"The cartoon isn't about the daughter, it is about the Palin's opposition to birth control and sex education in schools, and her 'abstinence only' stance," Cagle says on his blog, in response to some editors claims that he was "over the line" by including Palin's pregnant daughter in the cartoon.

Check back next week to view my Convention Sketchpads from the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis.:

• View all four Convention Sketchpads from the Democratic National Convention
  

Check back tomorrow morning to view my sketchpad for day three of the Democratic National Convention.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Sen. John Kerry (D-Boston)In a brief interview with MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell, U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Boston) hailed Barack Obama's Berlin speech as "historic" and a sign that things have changed from when he ran for president in 2004.

Speaking shortly after the Illinois senator's speech concluded, Mitchell recalled how the campaign of President George W. Bush (R) attacked Kerry as being "too French" and asked whether he thinks Americans are past the "aversion to all things European" that hurt his presidential campaign.

"I think four years ago people were scared and the Bush administration exploited fear," he said.

Mitt Romney will be on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' this morning at approximately 8:15 a.m.

The latest figures on voter registration released by the Nevada secretary of state have pundits and reporters from the national media speculating that the Republican stranglehold over the Sagebrush State could be in danger.

The secretary of state's office says that, as of the end of June, registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by 55,000 in Nevada. State Democats note that they now hold a 5 percent edge over the GOP when in 2004 — the year of the last presidential election — Republicans held a majority in the state.