On Wednesday, NPR's Frank James hosted a live chat during the Democratic convention. He was joined by Neal Carruth, NPR's elections editor; Matthew Continetti, contributing editor at the conservative Weekly Standard and the Washington Free Beacon; Jamelle Bouie, a fellow at the liberal American Prospect and Nation Institute; S.V. Dáte, the congressional editor on NPR's Washington Desk; and William Neikirk, a longtime Washington correspondent with the Chicago Tribune.

Read below to see how it unfolded.

Never mind the big-name politicians, and the Hollywood and media celebrities. 
The “show stoppers” at one Uptown Charlotte intersection during this week’s DNC have been a handful of very energetic sheriff’s deputies…directing traffic.
 

Investigators are working to determine the legitimacy of a claim that GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's tax records have been stolen from an accounting firm's records.

Naming a million-dollar price, an anonymous ransom note was sent to accounting firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers. The letter, which was also posted online, gets right to the point: "Using your Office... we were able to gain access to your network file servers and copy over the tax documents for one Willard M Romney and Ann D Romney."

The note's author signs off with a perky "Cheers!"

A judge in Arizona has ruled that police in that state can enforce part of the immigration law that has been dubbed the "show me your papers" provision.

Here's more from The Associated Press:

Hello from Charlotte, N.C. Today is all about Bill Clinton.

Walking around Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, the former president was the talk of the town. Today marks the second day of the Democratic National Convention.

We're in the arena and we'll keep tabs on the proceedings. Make sure you refresh this page to see the latest.

Update at 11:25 p.m. ET. A Wonky Speech, With A Clinton Delivery:

The night ended with President Obama taking the stage, once President Clinton finished his speech.

States using a federal immigration database to purge noncitizens from voter lists are starting to get results, which so far include few illegal voters.

In Florida, which was first to gain access to the database after fighting the federal government in court, an initial run of roughly 2,600 names has turned up "several" violators, according to a spokesman for Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner.

Four years ago black voters threw all their might behind sending Barack Obama to the White House. Today, their support remains high but their enthusiasm is not what it used to be.

And at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., some blacks who voted for Obama are not nearly as excited as they were in 2008.