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blacks, Hispanics, young people, unmarried women -- have been growing as a share of the electorate. Those who support Mitt Romney the most -- white working men and older people -- have not.
• This demographic tide is so strong that some Democrats came away from their 2008 victory feeling that a political reordering was in the works that could be as important as the New Deal realignment that ushered in a generation of Democratic strength after the Great Depression.
• The Great Recession put a deep dent in that hope of theirs, as it soured most other optimism around America.
• But now both Republicans and Democrats see that the demographic tide is still running. But it is running into the effects of the bad economy.
• ___

• LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The screams of women and children didn't cause a 100-year-old driver to stop as he backed his large powder blue Cadillac onto a sidewalk across from an elementary school and hit 11 people, including nine children.
• So people began pounding on his windows screaming for him to stop, a witness said.
• Alma Solache said she was buying her children an afterschool snack Wednesday just before the accident outside a South Los Angeles school.
• "He was not paying attention," said Solache, 24, adding that it was at least two or three seconds before the vehicle halted and people began pulling children out from beneath the car.
• Four of the children were in critical condition when firefighters arrived but they were stabilized and were in serious condition at a hospital, city fire Capt. Jaime Moore said. Everyone was expected to survive, he said.
• ___

• WASHINGTON (AP) -- Addressing the Republican National Convention, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie bemoaned the lack of civility and cooperation in American politics. "We are demanding that our leaders stop tearing each other down, and work together to take action on the big things facing America," Christie said.

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