Good morning and welcome to Thursday. Good morning, Minnesota. On the third night of the Democratic convention, Kamala Harris formally accepted her vice presidential nomination and former President Barack Obama went after his successor, urging voters to not “let democracy be taken from them.” More on the highlights of the DNC last night, after weather. Night 3 of the DNC: Kamala Harris shares her story, her views on racial injustice, women and Donald Trump. The Democratic vice president nominee made history last night, becoming the first Black woman and the first Asian woman to be nominated as vice president on a major-party ticket. “ We are a nation that’s grieving. Grieving the loss of life, the loss of jobs, the loss of opportunities, the loss of normalcy. And, yes, the loss of certainty. … Donald Trump’s failure of leadership costs lives and livelihoods,” she said. “And let’s be clear — there is no vaccine for racism. We’ve gotta do the work.” Obama unleashed his contempt for Trump: He “ hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t.” The former president, who had said he wouldn’t criticize his successor unless it was critical to “core questions about our values and ideals,” took off the gloves last night, questioning Trump's fitness for the job. “I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously ... But he never did,” Obama said. More takeaways and highlights from last night’s DNC can be found here. And stay tuned tonight as Joe Biden formally accepts the party’s nomination on the last night of the Democratic convention. Watch or listen live on MPR News starting 8 p.m. What’s at stake in the vote-by-mail and USPS saga? Here’s what to know. While Postmaster General Louis DeJoy suspended recent changes to Postal Service that worried many voters ahead of the Nov. 3 election, other challenges still remain -- more than 8,000 postal workers have tested positive for the coronavirus, causing a staff shortage. In addition, many states are building large voting-by-mail operations for the first time, but a lack of congressional funding and the president’s opposition to giving states more dollars for the election make it difficult, ProPublica reports.
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