At the Republican convention last night, “there was indeed a lofty, high-minded speech, one that managed to forcefully articulate a conservative world view without cheap partisan attacks or facts stretched to the breaking point. But it wasn’t Ryan’s — it was delivered by Condoleezza Rice, the former secretary of state,” Molly Ball reports.

“Rice’s address had a sophistication, ease, and grace almost never found in modern political speeches. It was a speechwriter’s speech, the kind you could imagine reading in a history book. She spoke with a diplomat’s formality and the teleprompter turned off, glancing only occasionally at her notes on the podium. “

E. J. Dionne: “Maybe it’s unfair to say so because former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice didn’t have to carry any water as a member of the Republican ticket. But her speech to the Republican National Convention was more serious and, yes, more presidential than any other speech on Wednesday night. She outshined Paul Ryan.”

“Sometimes they just make things up.”

— President Obama, quoted by the New York Times, commenting on the strategy of Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign.

McKay Coppins: “The effort will include a dramatic increase in Spanish-language ad spending, an aggressive bilingual mail program geared toward early voter turnout, and an ambitious ground game led by 13 full-time field staffers dedicated solely to courting Hispanics — more, the aide claimed, than ‘any other Republican presidential campaign in history.’ The stakes are high: Swings of a few percentage points among Hispanic voters in Florida, as in other crucial states, could easily swing the election.”

A new Gallup poll finds Americans have mixed views of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), who will be confirmed as the GOP’s vice presidential nominee tonight, with 38% saying their opinion is favorable, and 36% saying it is unfavorable.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll tracking poll finds Mitt Romney getting a boost from his party’s nominating convention in Tampa this week.

Romney and President Obama are deadlocked among likely voters at 43% each. That was an improvement for Romney from Obama’s two-point lead on Tuesday and four-point lead on Monday.

Said pollster Julia Clark: “There is movement toward Romney, which is traditional for a convention. It’s small and the change is incremental, but it’s been moving the last couple of days.”

Mitt Romney’s eldest sister, who has backed prominent Democrats for office, had some reassuring words for women concerned about the Republican Party’s hard line on abortion, National Journal reports.

Said Jane Romney: “He’s not going to be touching any of that. It’s not his focus.”

Wonk Wire: How presidents shape abortion rights.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry told NBC News he “absolutely” would consider another presidential run.

Said Perry: “Oh absolutely. There’s a long time until 2016 and a lot of good things can happen.”

A new Public Policy Polling survey in Nevada finds President Obama with a small lead over Mitt Romney, 50% to 47%.

In late March Obama led by 8 points, in early June it was down to 6 points, and now it’s just 3 points.

Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign toasted its top donors today aboard a 150-foot yacht flying the flag of the Cayman Islands, ABC News reports.

“The exclusive event, hosted by a Florida developer on his yacht ‘Cracker Bay,’ was one of a dozen exclusive events meant to nurture those who have raised more than $1 million for Romney’s bid.”

Stephen Colbert teaches Republicans about the female body.

[Read more…]

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) said that he believes Rep. Todd Akin (R) will ultimately decide to withdraw his U.S. Senate bid in Missouri, The Hill reports.

Said Blunt: “I didn’t say I was confident … I’m hopeful he will and I believe he will. He’s an engineer, he’s a quantitative guy. I think at some point you have to add up the columns here, and my belief is that by anyway you add them up, they don’t add up.”

Meanwhile, John Fund reports “behind-the-scenes efforts to figure out a way to have Akin exit from the Senate race before the final deadline of September 25 continue unabated.”

“By the time I get to town, the delegates may have decided to nominate
Ann instead. And wouldn’t that be interesting? And do you think if Ann
were the nominee, the press would write stories about how my job is to
humanize Ann? I don’t think so.”

— Mitt Romney, introducing his wife via video to a crowd at the GOP convention in Tampa.

A new Public Policy Polling survey in Connecticut finds Rep. Chris Murphy (D-CT) just ahead of Linda McMahon (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 48% to 44%.

The poll confirms results of a Quinnipiac poll yesterday that also found this race unexpectedly close.

Meanwhile, President Obama leads Mitt Romney in the presidential race by 13 points, 53% to 40%.

CNN reports that two people were removed from the Republican National Convention yesterday after they threw nuts at an African-American CNN camera operator and said, “This is how we feed animals.”

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) will accept the Republican party’s vice presidential nomination tonight.

First Read: “Already a full-fledged star in the Republican Party, Ryan has the potential to rock the crowd here in Tampa. After all, he can do it with biography (his family, the loss of his father, his love of hunting) as well as policy (the Ryan budget). And it will be the biggest speech of his political career so far. But let’s also not get too carried away about the VP nominee speech; Palin’s was the exception. (Beyond her, name another impactful VP nominee speech. The memorable convo speeches are almost all keynotes, spouses and top of tickets, not the VP.)”