Barack Obama, Republican National Convention | featured news

Aides say both acceptance speeches were meticulously written and rewritten, with the White House even vetting some lines through focus groups. Perhaps that caution was the problem, because -- as many commentators pointed out -- neither speech seemed to attain the soaring resonance of remarks delivered by other speakers at the same two conventions.

President Obama's aides also have nothing but nice things to say about Clint Eastwood -- though they suggested he may be a problem for Mitt Romney. "We're all Clint Eastwood fans here in the White House," said senior adviser David Plouffe on ABC's This Week. Obama himself told USA TODAY that he is a"hug" fan of Eastwood, calling him "a great actor, and an even better director."

Ratings for the final night of the Republican National Convention, which featured Mitt Romney and Clint Eastwood, weren't a blockbuster. An estimated 30.3 million viewers watched Thursday's coverage over 11 networks, Nielsen Co. said Friday. The event included presidential candidate Romney's acceptance speech and Eastwood's faux interview with an absent President Barack Obama.

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... So-called convention "bounces" are typically short-lived. With Obama to accept his party's nomination for a second term next week at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, the incumbent could quickly rebound.

Republicans have nominated former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for president, culminating a long primary fight and setting the stage for a close contest against President Barack Obama.

All the political attention might be focused on Republicans or even Tropical Storm Isaac, but that's not stopping President Obama from asking for more campaign money. In a new fundraising e-mail today geared to the swing state of Iowa, Obama says he's losing "the air war" and needs $5 or more from donors to pay for more campaign commercials.

Mitt Romney may get a boost from his choice of Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate - and also from the upcoming Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. That would be welcome to a campaign that saw slippage to President Barack Obama by several percentage points in polls before Saturday's Ryan announcement.