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live video here and join the conversation as we live blog the 2012 GOP convention.
4:01 PM PT: Welcome to the clown show! Tonight's the big night ... for Jeb Bush, to announce his 2016 bid. And for Marco Rubio to prepare for his 2028 campaign.
4:02 PM PT: Other speakers tonight: Clint Eastwood, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, and, of course, Mr. Bain himself.
4:03 PM PT: Speaking of Bain Capital, Mr. Bain will supposedly defend it in his remarks. But he might not actually use the B-word.
4:06 PM PT: As you've no doubt seen, Lyin' Paul Ryan has taken a pounding today for taking his liberties with the truth. One other thing that I want to point out: he has this annoying verbal tic of taking about how he and Mr. Bain won't dodge the tough issues, how they'll offer a big plan. But he always seems to say it in the future tense. Last night for all his lying, he didn't really get specific. Will Mr. Bain do that tonight? Probably not. Because for all their bluster, they really don't want to talk about their real plans.
4:14 PM PT: One thing to keep in mind: Romney is going to refer (at least once) to Obama's term has having been "four years." But four years ago, Bush was president. In August 2008, 137 million people had jobs. By August 2009, that that number was 130 million—a drop of 7 million. But also by August 2009, the rate of decline was slowing, and since then, we've added more than 3 million jobs—including nearly 4 million in the private sector. America is better off today than it was when President Obama took office—there's more to do, but we're heading in the right direction, no matter what Mitt Romney might say.
4:17 PM PT: Fox saying that Romney went through 17 drafts of the speech and that it'll be 40 minutes long. Ooooh, 40 minutes of sheer ... agony.
4:18 PM PT: Ratings haven't been great for this convention. Compared to 2008 when Sarah Palin spoke, the audience for Paul Ryan dropped by 17 million, from 37 million to just over 20 million.
4:22 PM PT: I guess tonight's convention is getting started a bit later tonight than previous nights. On Fox, they are covering flooding in Slidell, Louisiana, but breaking away a bit to talk about the convention.
4:25 PM PT: Chuck Todd, on MSNBC, is saying Ryan's campaign is not pushing back against any of the fact-checks, except for the Janesville GM plant one, which they claim was still open when Obama took office. Product ceased on December 23, 2008. Liars. Todd says they are basically saying they don't care about the fact-checks—that even if they are lying, nobody will hold it against them, in their view.
4:30 PM PT: Here's video from 2008 of the last SUV rolling off the assembly line at GM's Janesville plant. Ryan is lying.
4:32 PM PT: John Boehner just gaveled the convention into order. The color guard is presenting the flag at the moment, and they are beginning the pledge and the national anthem.
4:40 PM PT (Kaili Joy Gray): New thread here.