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.

Exclusive: Inside Karl Rove's Billionaire Fundraiser  —  On the final morning of the Republican National Convention, Karl Rove took the stage at the Tampa Club to provide an exclusive breakfast briefing to about 70 of the Republican party's highest-earning and most powerful donors.

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 …

‘Honey Boo Boo’ Ratings Top the Republican National Convention  —  The TLC series hits another high in its fourth episode, nearing 3 million viewers and topping cable news and broadcast network coverage of the RNC among adults 18-49.  —  Perhaps we spoke too soon.

Romney Campaign is First to Buy a Twitter Trending Topic  —  Mitt Romney's presidential campaign is becoming the first in history to buy a national trending topic on Twitter on Thursday, the last night of the Republican National Convention.  #RomneyRyan2012, the official hashtag of the campaign …

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 …

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.

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

Statement of Attorney General Eric Holder on Closure of Investigation into the Interrogation of Certain Detainees  —  The Attorney General announced today the closure of the criminal investigations into the death of two individuals while in United States custody at overseas locations.

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.

Romney to View Hurricane Damage in Louisiana … TAMPA, Fla. — Mitt Romney will make a trip to Louisiana Friday to survey the damage from Hurricane Isaac and meet with first responders, according to the campaign.  —  A day after accepting the Republican nomination for presidency …