In our August 25 show, gauging electoral fitness

This morning, we’re keeping the preview shorter than usual due to some technical difficulties. Rest assured, we’ll have more on the blog about this week’s news over the course of the weekend. For now, let’s just get down to the important stuff — what’s on today’s edition of “MHP”!

Today, we’ll preview next week’s Republican National Convention with topics ranging from how we determine who is fit for office, the early-voting controversy in Ohio, and the role of Florida Senator Marco Rubio at that convention. We’ll also mark the seventh anniversary of Hurrican Katrina, and the destruction it inflicted upon Melissa’s adopted hometown of New Orleans. Don’t miss a special video feature about the new, Katrina-ravaged home Melissa has begun to restore!

Our guests include:

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• Douglas Brinkley, presidential historian.
• Jonathan Capehart, opinion writer for the Washington Post, and an msnbc contributor.
• Emily Douglas, senior editor at The Nation.
• Alicia Menendez, host at HuffPost Live, and co-host of “Power Play” on SiriusXM Cristina Radio.
• Israel Ortega, editor of the Heritage Foundation’s Spanish-language publication, Libertad.
• Buddy Roemer, former Louisiana governor and 2012 presidential candidate, and current chair of TheReformProject.org.
• Manuel Roig-Franzia, political features writer for the Washington Post and author of “The Rise of Marco Rubio.”
• Angela Zimmann, Democratic candidate for Congress in Ohio’s 5th District.

As always, folks — be sure to interact with us during the show here in the comments of this post, on Facebook, and on Twitter, using the hashtag #nerdland. We look forward to having you join us at 10am ET on msnbc!