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.

Persuadable Voters  —  One in four registered voters may be persuadable in the 2012 presidential election - rich pickings if either Barack Obama or newly minted GOP nominee Mitt Romney can win their support.  But doing so may be a challenge, requiring both subtle and substantive political persuasion.

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.)

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 …

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 …

Father Benedict Groeschel, American Friar, Claims Teens Seduce Priests In Some Sex Abuse Cases … REACT:  —  FOLLOW:  —  Video, Catholic Priest Sex Abuse, Father Benedict Groescher, Friars Of Renewal, Legion Of Christ, National Catholic Register, Sex Abuse Scandal, Slideexpand, Religion News

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 …

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.

Pentagon threatens lawsuit over Osama bin Laden book  —  The Defense Department is threatening to go after an ex-SEAL author and his publisher over a new book that challenges the administration's official account of last year's raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

“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 …