Discouraged Workers - The unemployment rate dropped, but for all the wrong reasons as nearly 400,000 Americans stopped looking for work. http://abcn.ws/Q4E3fg

Mitt Romney called "the hangover" from last night's speech by President Obama to the Democratic National Convention.

Paul Ryan said This Is 'Not Even Close to What a Recovery Looks Like' - http://abcn.ws/QrWUjJ (Shushannah Walshe)

All the reactions are here - http://abcn.ws/OtOTZc

There's probably a fine line between schadenfreude and hoping for validation of deeply held core beliefs.

And this election, for all it's distractions, is all about core beliefs on the role of government in your life.

Jay Carney wouldn't confirm it today, but it is likely that the president knew what the jobs report would say before he gave his speech last night.

And in hindsight, the crux of his message was something like, 'Please, America, bear with me."

Compare Three Obamas From 2004 to '08 to '12 - When President Obama took the stage Thursday night to accept his party's nomination in Charlotte, N.C., he made a pitch for a second term in a neck-and-neck race. It's his third speech to Democratic conventions since he appeared on the national scene in 2004. Since then he has gone from upstart state senator to the nominee of "hope and change" to embattled president in a struggling economy. http://abcn.ws/Qjly8o (Julie Percha)

Is Obama a Clinton Democrat? - Paul Ryan at Beverly Hills Fundraiser, Calls Obama 'Not a Bill Clinton Democrat'-Bill Clinton may have spoken at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday night, but at a Paul Ryan fundraiser Thursday in a town that's a favorite venue for Democratic fundraising, he was the man who was mentioned the most. http://abcn.ws/TqeQOE (Shushannah Walshe)

Romney Calls Obama Speech 'Extraordinarily, Suprisingly, Disappointing' - In his first public campaign event in five days, Mitt Romney gave a scathing review of President Obama's convention speech, referring to it as "extraordinarily, surprisingly, disappointing." http://abcn.ws/SqOJrA (Emily Friedman)

White House Misses Deadline Outlining Defense Cuts - White House officials today acknowledged that they had not met the deadline to outline how the president would make the defense cuts required by law to be made because of the failure of the bipartisan, poorly-named Super-committee to agree on $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction over the next ten years. http://abcn.ws/NgrvB9 (Jake Tapper)

Romney Responds to Obama Criticism of His Foreign Policy Creds - Mitt Romney today responded to criticism over his failure to mention Afghanistan during his speech at last week's Republican National Convention, as well as President Obama's suggestion that he "might not be ready for diplomacy" overseas. "I actually talked about our military and our commitment to our military and the fact that our president has actually proposed and is going to oversee a dramatic cut back on our military," said Romney during a press conference held on the tarmac in Iowa moments after landing. Romney holds a rally here this afternoon, his first public campaign event since Saturday. http://abcn.ws/NgkEYt (Emily Friedman)

Democrats really went after him on this issue on the final night of their convention. John Kerry even made a Sarah Palin joke.

Was it the best speech Kerry has ever given? Take a look - http://abcn.ws/P2eDeB

Clint Eastwood Explains Empty-Chair Speech-In his first interview since the infamous invisible Obama empty chair routine that transfixed the Republican National Convention last month, Clint Eastwood tells the newspaper in Carmel, Calif., that the Romney campaign didn't know what he was going to say and he didn't come up with the empty chair idea until he was about to go on stage. http://abcn.ws/Ot3Bj2

Party's Over: DNC Week Ends With Disappointing Jobs Report-Although there was no balloon drop on the closing night of the Democratic National Convention, there is likely to be a real sense of deflation among Democrats this morning. http://abcn.ws/OsM6PU (Michael Falcone and Amy Walter)

What Charlotte Didn't Change for Obama-President Obama came into the Democratic National Convention his own worst enemy, with memories of 2008 haunting him every bit as much as anything Mitt Romney can say about him. http://abcn.ws/RifU6p (Rick Klein)