I tend to digest information over an extended period of time in order to absorb knowledge with the highest efficiency. So when I have the duty to report information within hours of it being presented, not to mention writing after midnight and into the early morning, I feel like I must review it all over again with you. However, with a plane to catch, I will spray an outline for you to color-in for yourselves through further reading and research.

As a student who attended both conventions, I now have taken time to think – for myself – about the two candidates running for president, Sen. Barack Obama and Sen.John McCain.

I will specifically focus on their acceptance speeches. First off, they both accepted their party's nomination. Shocking, I know. Take note of the venue of the two speeches. Mile High Stadium in Denver drew in 85,000 individuals. A row of Greek columns behind Barack Obama stood out as a silent symbol of the White House. John McCain stayed...

Sen. John McCain accepts the GOP presidential nomination and WRAL had a birds-eye view of the action.

Is it just me, or is this year's political "go-to" word - RED MEAT - getting on anybody else's nerve. Seriously, where did mud sling, dirt, or just plain ole trash talk go? It seems like every time there is an important event, a new phrase is created and WAY over used. Maybe it's been used before, but not like this. On the way to meet our N.C. delegates this morning, I was listening to CNN on the radio and I think I heard Soledad and the guests she was interviewing say RED MEAT about 30 times. They were referring to Gov. Sarah Palin's speech last night and how rough it was on Obama and the race for the White House. So, every time they mentioned Obama's lack of executive experience they said something like, "Gov. Palin and the RED MEAT" or "Her RED MEAT tactics" ... blah blah blah. Next time pundits, just state what it is...it's...

Riot police got to work again today, taking up strategic positions around the Xcel Center to deal with protesters.

This creates such a logistical problem for the working media who have to enter and exit the building frequently during the day. It slows down the process, which includes the security lines. And once they get backed up there’s a snowball effect, and the waiting gets excruciating.

Protesting is part of the political process, and a right guaranteed by the first amendment. But, when people are protesting just to protest, and those people are here, you struggle to understand the purpose?

John McCain has a tough act to follow tonight. Usually, the nominee's acceptance speech is the convention highlight ... like Barack Obama's stadium address last week. But today, the talk here in St. Paul is still about Sarah Palin's performance. The delegates loved it and they're anxious to hear more.

Now, tonight's setting will be a bit different. The stage was rebuilt to look more like a town hall meeting ... something very comfortable for McCain. He won't have to introduce himself as Palin did. But he has to do something she didn't: tell us where he'd take America. What would he do about the economy, about taxes, health care? And he needs to stress how he'd be different than Obama.

A new CBS News poll shows McCain and Obama are tied ... each with 42 percent. Obama's eight-point lead last weekend is gone. These numbers will no doubt keep changing as the convention hype dies down. We vote just two months from today.

There is an army of police officers in riot gear mobilizing around the perimeter of the convention compound. They are expecting a demonstration on this last day of the convention.

At breakfast this morning, the North Carolina delegation was briefed on what may happen and advised how to avoid the chaos. I have noticed, though, the local police officers have been very nice and helpful. The people of Minnesota that we’ve met have all been that way.

We’re down to our last day, and the general thinking here is tonight’s speech by John McCain could be anti-climactic after Sarah Palin’s speech last night. One delegate said that shows how capable she is and formidable she is for the Democrats.

Palin impressed a lot of people here in St. Paul last night, and it will be a tough act to follow for John McCain.

Much like the supporters of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama a week ago, North Carolina backers of Republican nominee John McCain plan to hold parties across the state tonight to watch his acceptance speech.

Parties will be held in Raleigh at Raleighwood Theatre on Falls of Neuse Road and at the home of the chairwoman of N.C. State Students for McCain.

Other parties will be held in Charlotte, Harrisburg, Greensboro, Kinston, New Bern and Wilmington.

The Mississippi River and St. Paul's downtown skyline provide a striking environment for the Republican National Convention.

Take a look.

Convention workers hurriedly rebuilt the stage where John McCain will formally accept the Republican Party's presidential nomination Thursday night, according to The Associated Press.

Parts of the platform at the Xcel Energy Center were removed by construction workers on Thursday to bring delegates closer to where McCain will give his acceptance speech, giving the stage a T-shape. Organizers said the change reflected the town hall-type forums in which McCain has campaigned.

"The extended podium will serve as a fitting complement to John McCain's preference for direct interaction with his fellow citizens," said Maria Cino, a convention official.

Meanwhile, party leaders added two speakers to the night's lineup. Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., will speak prior to the candidate's wife, Cindy McCain. Both are close to McCain, and Ridge was considered a finalist for the No. 2 spot before McCain picked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

We saw the republican team together for the first time at the convention. We in the media got a heads up that he was in the building, but don’t know that the crowd knew. If they saw the DNC, they probably had a hunch that he would show up. Sarah Palin electrified the crowd tonight. She has the party base eating out of the palm of her hand. It’ll be interesting to see how Barack Obama, and especially Joe Biden go after her. She demonstrated tonight that she was very capable of going after them.

A feverous energy is in the air in St. Paul as crowds anticipate Sarah Palin’s speech tonight accepting the vice presidential nomination.

Everything has picked up – vendors, protesters and security. You can’t walk 10 feet without seeing a police officer. Police in riot gear are setup to prevent problems and they have done a great job. When you enter the Xcel Energy Center you are in a different world – far removed from the outdoor protesters.

For a view of the crowd, click here.

The governor of Alaska was widely unknown when Sen. John McCain announced that she would join him on the Republican presidential ticket.

Tonight, she takes the stage to make her case to the voters and to fire back at critics.

Along the way, she has served a beauty queen, sports reporter, mayor and governor. CBS News has a brief timeline of her life.

Sen. John McCain arrived in the Twin Cities on Wednesday just after 1 p.m. His running mate Sarah Palin was there to meet him.

The Alaskan governor is the primetime speaker tonight, where she will introduce herself to the American voting public. Two-thirds of voters in a WRAL.com poll said she was the person they are most interested in hearing from.

Although there's been protests in St. Paul as the Republican National Convention resumes at the Xcel Energy Center, the media is far removed and isolated from the scene. It makes you wonder how effective the protests are. Unless you're caught up in it, you have no idea it's happening. I didn't know and Geof Levine didn't know about them until hearing about it on the news.

Today, we're tagging along with the North Carolina delegation to Lake Minnetonka, which Prince made famous in his 1984 movie Purple Rain, to hear from Sen. Richard Burr.

Taking a short break from the convention, Gerald Owens and I went to the site of the Interstate 35 bridge, which collapsed in Minneapolis on Aug. 1, 2007, killing 13 people and injuring more than 100.

What we saw was overwhelming. To take a look, click here.