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With polls suggesting a North Carolina race that's tight as a tick, Republicans are seeking to increase their vote across the board, including places where President Obama did well in 2008. On the eve of the Democratic National Convention, an on-the-ground look at the race in the host state.

Since 1986, the U.S. has steadily built an infrastructure on its Southern border and inland. All told, the nation has spent nearly $200 billion in today's dollars. Roughly 80,000 government workers depend on immigration enforcement, along with defense contractors large and small. NPR's Ted Robbins reports immigration is down, but there's no end in sight for the border-industrial complex. (This piece initially aired Sept. 12, 2012, on Morning Edition).

Historically, pastors have played a big role in organizing get-out-the-vote efforts within the African American community. But the issue of same-sex marriage has divided faith leaders. Guest host Celeste Headlee speaks with Reverend Derek McCoy of the Maryland Marriage Alliance about how the issue could affect the black vote.

New polls suggest the percentage of women voting for President Obama over Republican Mitt Romney could reach historic levels. The surprise? The divide is attributed primarily to this year's size-of-government debate, not to a focus on social issues like abortion and reproductive rights.

The Gaza Strip will be unlivable by 2020 if nothing is done to alleviate the situation there, a recent U.N. report found. By almost every indicator, Palestinians in Gaza today are worse off than they were in the 1990s — squeezed by a high birthrate, dwindling resources and trade and travel restrictions.

The Chicago teachers' strike came to an end this week. Host Scott Simon speaks with Education Secretary Arne Duncan about the resolution.

At the Pentagon, bean counters are working long hours trying to figure out how to cut close to a trillion dollars from the department of defense budget over the next ten years. Part of the defense budget usually protected from budget cuts is health care and retirement benefits, but some argue those benefits are depleting the Department of Defense of funds it needs to function as a top military force.

The debate may be remembered for Mitt Romney's $10,000 gaffe and Newt Gingrich's failure to implode. Gingrich, the front-runner in national and many state polls, didn't make any obvious errors. He also weathered the criticisms that came his way because of his current role as pace-setter in the polls.

Before setting foot in Michigan, Rick Santorum was leading in GOP polls there. It's the clearest illustration yet that the traditional rules that determine primary winners have been upended by factors that are new this time around, such as superPACs and the proliferation of candidate debates.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court hears two cases testing how American law intersects with international law. One case involves a lawsuit against Royal Dutch Shell Oil, which is accused of aiding and abetting the Nigerian government in committing atrocities in the 1990s.