Michelle's clothing, nail polish flying off shelves

(Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)

There hasn't been this much interest in a cosmetic product since Monica Lewinsky wore Club Monaco's "Glaze" lipstick for her 20/20 interview with Barbara Walters.

Following Michelle Obama's speech Tuesday, every item in her outfit is being snapped up by consumers.

This includes her Artistic "Grey Lilac" nailpolish, "rhubarb"-coloured J-Crew everly suede pumps, and Tracy Reese dress.

Reese, an African American designer born in Detriot, says she is rushing into production, telling NBC's "Today" show that the hot pink silk jaquard dress with pale blue trim at the hem will cost under $500.

The volatile Senate races

U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin addresses a news conference in August. Akin, 65, has defied widespread calls to step aside after he said women's bodies have natural defences against pregnancy from "legitimate rape." (Sarah Conard/REUTERS)

The presidential candidates may be cool as cucumbers, but Senate candidates are foaming at the mouth.

The New Yorker writes why the fight for Senate is anyone's call and why the stakes are so high.

Democrats and Repubilcans are fighting tooth and nail to win both chambers of Congress, without which it becomes difficult, if not near impossible, to pass legislation.

"The Presidential race does not give off much of a feeling of high stakes; that race involves two cautious, cerebral, poll-tested, heavily produced candidates who cling to message and go negative with scripts vetted by focus groups of swing voters. Some of the Senate races, in contrast, look like Three Stooges punch-ups."

"...this fall’s Senate races are turning out to be wild, often entertaining, and engorged by Super PAC spending."

And yes, Todd "legitimate rape" Akin is runing for Senate and, according to polls, is more or less tied with Democrat Senator Claire McCaskill.

All hail Bubba, king of ad-libbing

(Mladen ANTONOVGettyImages)

Bill Clinton ad-libbed a significant amount of his speech, over 2,000 words of it.

"Numerous times during Clinton’s peroration, which eventually drew to a close just before eleven-thirty, the machine appeared to have conked out, the same words frozen on the screen," said the New Yorker. "It hadn’t backed up; it had simply stopped because the former President had departed from this prepared remarks, which were pretty long to begin with, and ad-libbed to his heart’s content"

Some say the improvisation helped his speech, here are some examples:

The text: "I believe that with all my heart."

The speech: "Whether you believe it or not, I just want you to know, with all my heart, that I believe it. I believe it. Let me tell you why I believe it."

Text: "It gets worse."

Speech: "Folks, this is serious, because it gets worse. And you won't be laughing when I finish with this."

He ad-libbed personal anecdotes:

   

So this is personal to me. We moved millions of people off welfare. It was one of thereasons that in the eight years I was president, we had a hundred times as many people move out of poverty into the middle class than happened under the previous 12 years, a hundred times as many. It’s a big deal.

And ad-libbed slogans on the fly:

    It passes the arithmetic test, and far more important, it passes the values test.

Kim Kardashian, Scarlett Johansson coming to DNC

(Photo by Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images)

Kim Kardashian is coming to the DNC.

Not sure if this is the kind of celebrity endorsement Barack Obama is looking for, but given her high profile — she is just 3 million shy of the president's 19 milion followers on Twitter — perhaps it doesn't hurt to lend a little more (reality) star power to the convention.

No word on if her current squeeze, Kanye, will also be attending.

Other stars include "surprise guests" Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman and Kerry Washington. Desperate Housewife Eva Longoria is expected to speak and the Foo Fighters, are also reportedly in the roster.

At 8 p.m. actor Kal Penn, will be hosting an online panel featuring tinsel-town stars Elizabeth Banks, Olivia Wilde, Zack Braff, Marc Anthony and Alexis Bledel.

DNC: Thursday look-ahead

(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) (Larry Downing/REUTERS)

Tonight: Hollywood starlets Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman and Kerry Washington, Vice President Joseph Biden and Barack Obama.

Obama may be targeting soccer moms, specifically sophisticated soccer moms, in his speech. "Obama’s speech may reflect that married moms today are less interested in the social safety net and more interested in tax policy. They are also more reliable voters than unmarried women," reports Bloomberg.

DNC: Bill Clinton's speech

In case you couldn't stay awake, here is Bill Clinton's entire speech to the Democratic National Convention last night:

 

The Star's Daniiel Dale captured the reaction of five Democrats after Clinton's speech here

We have other speeches from last night here

Gabrielle Giffords to lead Pledge of Allegiance?

The convention's final day may get an emotional boost: Roll Call, the Washington newspaper, says former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords will lead the Pledge of Allegiance.

"It would be Giffords' highest-profile public appearance since a nearly fatal assassination attempt almost two years ago during a constituent event outside Tucson," reported the Arizona Republic.

Giffords resigned from Congress in January, The convention appearance would cap a good week for her: she and her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, announced the creation of Gabby PAC, which will "support candidates who are dedicated to working hard for commonsense, bipartisan solutions that strengthen our communities and our entire country."

Monica Lewinsky's rabbi gives benediction after Bill Clinton speech

For some unfathomable reason, the Democrats chose Monica Lewinsky's former rabbi, the prominent David Wolpe, to give the benediction to end Wednesday's proceedings - proceedings headlined by one Bill Clinton.

It's not even as if Wolpe was a mere Lewinsky acquaintance: according to ABC News, he directly criticized Clinton over the affair in the 1990s, saying the then-president had acted like a "child," had issued a "flinty legalistic apology," and needed to "cleanse his soul."

Wolpe waded slyly into another controversy on Wednesday: in the benediction, which occurred, mercifully for the Democrats, around 1 a.m., he called Jerusalem a "golden and capital city."

News reports suggest he and Clinton did not stab each other in the green room.

 

Talking to Americans: Five Democrats on Bill Clinton's speech

Democrats were near-giddy or actual-giddy as they left the Time Warner Cable Arena after Bill Clinton's Clinton-y speech on Wednesday night. Here's what five of them had to say:

Tim Banter Jr., Indiana, teacher looking for work

 

Lee Walkup, California, high-end travel agent

 

Paul Evans, Virginia, retired teacher, preacher and police officer

 

Seeta Durjan Begui, Florida, nurse and radio host

 

Sue Hamill, California, clinical lab scientist

 

 

 

 

Bill Clinton for Barack Obama, all the way: Wednesday recap

Former president Bill Clinton used nearly 50 minutes of keynote speech time at the Democratic National Convention to unleash a detailed dissection of Republican foibles, flaws and lies and a soaring assertion that the United States needs, nay, absolutely requires, a second-term presidency from Barack Obama.

"If you want a country of shared opportunities and shared responsibilities – a 'we're all in it together' society, you should vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden," Clinton told the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, NC.

Clinton, who strayed far from his prepared remarks, touched on Medicare, the national debt and student loans, sprinkling his speech with punchy one-liners and smart jabs at the GOP, even riffing on Republican president Ronald Reagan's famous "There you go again" line.

The speech should go a long way toward quelling popular speculation the former president and current POTUS don't see eye to eye (publicly, at least). Clinton, who appealed to centrist Democrats throughout his presidency, never straying as far left as Obama, told the voters "you must vote for Barack Obama."

Read more from the Star's Mitch Potter.

Women's rights activist and Rush Limbaugh target Sandra Fluke spoke at the top of the 10 p.m. primetime hour, drawing jeering, insulting reaction from Ann Coulter and the rest of the Twitterati.

 

Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts senate candidate, followed Fluke.