nbc bay area political analyst larry gersten is here with us to sort it out.nteresting, normally you have the pro tax and anti-tax folks. it's almost like have you three sides in this argument. anti-tax and now two different tax initiatives battling it out. what's going on? >> california borrowers have this incredible propensity to shoot themselves in the foot. that's it. it drives a lot of people nuts when they're trying to watch to see if there's going to be some change. here you have the situation. we know we're in debt $8 billion. we got to do something about it. no piggy bank to take it from. you get the ballot going. two now, two ballot initiatives designed to bridge that gap. proposition 30 sponsored by california governor jerry brown. proposition 38 sponsor the by wealthy civil rights attorney molly munger, doing similar things and both on the ballot and driving people nutso. >> tell me the difference, if they're so similar. >> that's the heart ache for a lot of reformers. prop 30, very simple, going to increase sales taxes by 0.25%, increase income ta

next, political analyst larry gersten joins us to talk about key issues romney and ryan will need toackle in tampa. >>> first, here's the weekend community calendar. >> good morning. there's lots to do today in the bay. we'll start the sunday calendar for one for my son. he loves the legos. this is your last week to head to the brick show 2012. i know very little about the lego related thing specifically but at bay area family church. i'm assuming the building itself is normal but if it's made of plastic bricks, please, send me pictures. equal time, of course, this next one is for my daughter. she loves tomatoes. i eat tomatoes. at circle farm you can get tomatoeses. they celebrate the vegetable or fruit they harvest with you. heirloom cherries, all are $1.75 a pound. a pound, by the way, is not how you want to handle any beauties unless you get paste tomatoes, i suppose. one for me, since i'm the oldest in our house. the 48 annual antique fair and flea market in historic niles. back in the past. oh, and here it is closer to the present. the entire downtown will be blocked off for ov

let's bring in nbc political analyst larry gersten. mitt romney has been very vocal saying there's a lot more going on behind the scenes within the republican party at these republican conventions. >> we look at it on television, we see the hats, we see the blues and all that stuff. the thousands of delegates in tampa, they're the heart, they're the soul of the republican party, they're the workers, they're the true believers, they're the messengers to others, once they leave that convention, energized for the fall campaign, between now and thursday, they will be recommitted to their cause, to their con dats. in that sense the convention is more like a revival meeting. >> a halo effect, just for the 20,000 people in that arena or beyond. >> first it's mitt romney's last chance to make a good first impression. if he can connect thursday night, he will overcome the distance or the aloofness that steve handelsman has been talking about that many have seen until this point. it's a chance for the candidates to make their case to the-particu

larry gefrt gerston to in. >> government gets in the way. in that sense he's made the republican story tonight and truly differentiated that party from the democrats. >> gersten went on to say romney's speech did a lot to prove to people he could relate to them. the speech was a little light on substance, though, but says that's not uncommon for candidates accepting their party's nomination. on the other side of the aisle, not only is california governor jerry brown not focused on the republican convention, brown now says he'll miss the democratic national convention in charlotte, north carolina, next week. brown says the recent death of his father-in-law and the hundreds of bills on his desk will keep him in sacramento. and just a reminder, for complete election coverage go to nbcbayarea.com. click on the decision 2012 link to find the latest political updates and a twitter feed with reaction to mitt romney's speech this evening. >>> it's his job to save lives. today it was his life that was saved. he was saved by his fellow firefighters at a church in the line of duty. tonight, frank ryan is still recovering at san jose's regional medical center. he's a vet