Clint Eastwood Delivers Bizarre, Rambling Speech To Empty Chair  —  TAMPA, Fla. — Clint Eastwood opened up the primetime portion of the Republican convention with a rambling, mumbling and often incoherent address next to an empty chair that was meant to represent President Obama.

Romney takes lead over Obama with convention “bounce”: Reuters/Ipsos poll  —  (Reuters) - Mitt Romney has moved into a narrow lead over U.S. President Barack Obama in a small bounce for him from the Republican National Convention, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found on Thursday.

Harvard Investigates “Unprecedented” Academic Dishonesty Case  —  Nearly half of more than 250 students in “Introduction to Congress” are under investigation  —  Harvard College's disciplinary board is investigating nearly half of the 279 students who enrolled in Government 1310 …

Justice Department ends criminal probe of detainee deaths  —  The Justice Department will not file criminal charges against CIA officials after an investigation into the deaths of two detainees, Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday.  —  Justice is closing its investigation …

David Koch breaks from GOP on gay marriage, taxes, defense cuts  —  TAMPA, Fla. - Billionaire industrialist David Koch, who is helping steer millions of dollars to elect Mitt Romney and congressional Republicans, on Thursday told POLITICO he disagrees with the GOP's stance on gay marriage …

Priest Defends Sex Abusers, Apologizes  —  A well-known Catholic priest who hosts a weekly religious television show said in an interview this week that child sex abusers are often seduced by teenage boys and should not go to jail on a first offense.  But the comments were removed by the website …

Very Quick Take  —  As we watch the Romneys and Ryans in the traditional balloon drop, a few really quick takes.  —  On balance, I thought the first half to 2/3 of the speech were really weak, disjointed, kind of rambling.  (The protest disruptions probably added to that impression.)

Reagan hologram is real, was planned for RNC debut  —  Despite some conflicting reports, Yahoo News has learned that a holographic projection of former President Ronald Reagan is in the works and was originally intended to debut outside the halls of the Republican National Convention this week.

Exclusive: Marco Rubio's Republican Convention Address  —  Here are the remarks Marco Rubio plans to deliver this evening at the Republican convention in Tampa, Florida:  —  In 1980, I watched my first Republican Convention with my grandfather.  —  He was born to a farming family in rural Cuba.

Okay, That's the Stupidest Thing I Ever Heard  —  I like Chuck Todd.  He's one of the more knowledgable and sensible people in political journalism.  But this has to rank as one of the stupidest things I've ever heard anyone say.  From this morning on Morning Joe, Todd explains that Democrats wish …

“You Didn't Build That” Isn't Going Away  —  It doesn't matter what Obama meant.  Here's why.  —  Attendees at the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla.  —  Richard Kalvar/Magnum Photos for Slate.  —  The official theme of the GOP convention Wednesday night was …

Romney Vows to Deliver Country From Economic Travails  —  TAMPA, Fla. — Mitt Romney accepted the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday by making a direct appeal to Americans who were captivated by President Obama's hopeful promises of change, pledging that he could deliver …

A not-very-truthful speech in a not-very-truthful campaign  —  Honestly?  I didn't want us to write this piece.  —  The original pitch was for “the five biggest lies in Paul Ryan's speech.”  I said no. It's not that the speech didn't include some lies.  It's that I wanted us to bend …

RNC Ratings Night Two: Networks Lose 17 Million Viewers Compared To Night Two Of 2008 RNC  —  On night two of the Republican National Convention, Fox News Channel was once again the network more people went to to get their political fix.  That said, every network was down substantially …

Romney: Obama's Reelection Means The Future Will Not Be Better Than The Past  —  TAMPA, Fla. — Mitt Romney's campaign released excerpts of his big address to the Republican National Convention ahead of his address Thursday night.  —  The excerpts in full: