The thing is, the night was shaping up pretty well for Mitt Romney. The testimonials from members of his church, business partners and political colleagues were heartfelt and often touching.

But all I remember is Clint.

Here’s an important point from Matt Yglesias that I think most people here would agree with. He riffs off a line from Paul Ryan’s convention speech – “None of us have to settle for the best this administration offers — a dull, adventureless journey from one entitlement to the next, a government-planned life, a country where everything is free but us.” This Hungary circa 1956 vision of America just bears no resemblance to the truth. And that’s because of Matt’s real point, that the differences between the parties are actually much smaller than that.

We live in a time when the media literally thinks it’s a separate job to separate true from false in reporting on national political figures. They think their main job is theater criticism.

The housing plank comes in the “Restoring the American Dream – Economy and Jobs” section of the document. It’s five paragraphs long, and much of it is explanatory and flowery. Most of the first paragraph goes on and on about the importance of homeownership. It concludes, “Homeownership is best fostered by a growing economy with low interest rates, as well as prudent regulation, financial education, and targeted assistance to responsible borrowers.” Beyond that, there’s not much here; they blame government for the housing market collapse, citicize Obama for not fixing it even though it happened in 2006-07, and have no discussion of the current foreclosure and servicing crisis except to say that the government shouldn’t help homeowners with principal writedowns.

Some of these you may have picked up from my Twitter feed, which is where I’m likely to be camped for every day of this affair, but just in case you missed it…

The Republican Party has formally adopted their platform, amid a smattering of No votes and a bit of tension on the convention floor, which was for the most part safely shunted to the sidelines. The GOP platform would ban marriage equality and the right to choose. It would turn Medicare into a voucher program. It would inaugurate a commission to return to the gold standard. It would extend the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts. It would oppose limits or any restrictions on guns. It is an fairly full-throated expression of the right wing of the party.

The Republican National Convention has been gaveled into order, and an already-hoarse RNC Chair Reince Priebus has begun the proceedings. The first day will include the roll call to formally nominate Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan for President and Vice President. What may have been an uncomfortable floor fight over the seating of delegates may or may not have been averted, but the key element today is the Republican platform to end Medicare as we know it.

Protests have begun at the RNC, even if the convention hasn’t. And the groups engaged in the protests started by targeting an unlikely but also a universal target, one you’ll hear a lot about next week in Charlotte as well – Bank of America.

Tampa has been given the all-clear signal for Isaac, the tropical storm expected to grow in strength to a hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico, but Isaac is not out in the Gulf headed for Gulf shore areas as a Category 1 hurricane.

The Republican National Convention will be a three-day affair, much like the Democratic convention this year. RNC Chair Reince Priebus announced yesterday that, because of the threat of Hurricane Isaac, the convention will quickly gavel into session and then adjourn on Monday, returning Tuesday for the remainder of the events.