Republican National Convention 2012

In Tampa, "Republican Party" can take on a whole new meaning as it gets later in the convention day. That's when delegates, lobbyists, business executives and others begin to mingle, filling up the city's nightspots.

NPR producer Brakkton Booker and I began Tuesday night with a trip to 7th Street in Ybor City, the Tampa neighborhood made famous for its cigar factories of the past. Now it's a mix of restaurants, bars and trendy shops similar to New Orleans' Bourbon Street.

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block.

Tonight, Mitt Romney accepts his party's nomination for president, as the Republican National Convention wraps up in Tampa. Last night, it was his running mate Paul Ryan's turn. And in his speech, Ryan made a number of statements that have made this a busy day for fact-checkers. Among them, Glenn Kessler, who writes the Fact Checker column for The Washington Post.

Glenn, welcome to the program.

GLENN KESSLER: Thank you for having me.

If CNN's John King is right, Dirty Harry is indeed tonight's "mystery speaker":

"Clint Eastwood is the #gop mystery speaker for Thurs night. #cnnelections"

There are claims flying back and forth today over whether Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan has falsely accused President Obama of breaking a promise to make sure a GM plant in Ryan's hometown stayed open.

We posted earlier about Ryan's words in his acceptance speech Wednesday and the "false" rating they got from PolitiFact.com.

"This situation could happen to me at the Democratic convention or standing on the street corner. Racism is a global issue," CNN camerawoman Patricia Carroll, in an interview with an institute that promotes diversity in the news media, says of the ugly racial taunts directed her way Tuesday night at the Republican National Convention in Tampa.