The most extraordinary story of the GOP convention  —  Popular in Politics  —  TAMPA — When CNN asked top Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom to assess Clint Eastwood's performance on stage at the Republican convention Thursday night, Fehrnstrom answered simply, “It's improv.”

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 to Visit Areas Damaged By Hurricane Isaac  —  LAKELAND, Fla. — In a last-minute change of plans, Mitt Romney will head to visit storm-affected areas in New Orleans today, skipping a previously scheduled joint rally with running mate Paul Ryan in the battleground state of Virginia this afternoon.

‘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.

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.

Monetary Policy since the Onset of the Crisis  —  When we convened in Jackson Hole in August 2007, the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) target for the federal funds rate was 5-1/4 percent.  Sixteen months later, with the financial crisis in full swing, the FOMC had lowered the target …

What War?  —  The United States has some 68,000 troops fighting in Afghanistan.  Over two thousand Americans have died in the more than ten years of that war, a war Mitt Romney has supported.  Yet in his speech accepting his party's nomination to be commander in chief, Mitt Romney said not a word about the war in Afghanistan.

The One Line To Rule Them All  —  I generally agree with Scott that Romney's speech could have been a lot stronger, and still had the same personal structure and done what he wanted to do with it.  Who are his chief speechwriters, I wonder?  Is it the same crew (McConnell and Scully) that did Paul Ryan's speech?

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 …

Michael Moore: Mitt Romney Will Win In November (VIDEO) … REACT:  —  FOLLOW:  —  Mitt Romney, Michael Moore, Video, HuffPost Live, Josh Zepps, Shadow Conventions 2012, Money In Politics, Shadow Conventions 2012, Politics News  —  Filmmaker Michael Moore joined HuffPost Live Thursday …

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.)