TPMMuckraker  —  Arizona Goes Birther: Secretary Of State Says It's ‘Possible’ Obama Won't Be On Ballot  —  The man in charge of running Arizona's elections has gone to the birthers.  Secretary of State Ken Bennett now says he's not convinced Barack Obama was really born in the United States …

Bush and Romney Talk After Elevator Endorsement  —  George W. Bush and Mitt Romney have connected.  —  Romney called Bush after the former president offered his fleeting support for the Republican candidate in an elevator this week, a person on Romney's campaign tells ABC News.

DID ELIZABETH WARREN PLAGIARIZE HER ‘POW WOW CHOW’ RECIPES?  —  The credibility of Massachusetts Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren took another hit today as Boston radio talk show host Howie Carr released evidence that appears to confirm Ms. Warren may have plagiarized at least three …

AUDIO: Witness Says George Zimmerman Repeatedly Bullied Him At Work, Targeted Him With Racist Jokes  —  Among the evidence in the Trayvon Martin case released by the Florida state prosecutor yesterday was a 15-minute interview with a former work collegue of George Zimmerman.

Al Gore has a girlfriend: California donor and activist Elizabeth Keadle  —  Al Gore has been seriously dating Elizabeth Keadle, right, of California.  (Joe Kohen/Getty; Jon Clark/Rancho Santa Fe Review)  —  It's never easy to re-enter the dating pool after years away …

How White Will the Electorate Be?  —  Probably not quite this white.  —  Last month, Emory University political scientist Alan Abramowitz noticed something unusual.  Most of the polling about the presidential race found President Obama leading Mitt Romney, by mid-to-high single digits.

Obama's North Carolina math problem  —  Raleigh, North Carolina (CNN) — The state Democratic Party here is consumed with an ongoing sexual harassment scandal.  The embattled governor is so unpopular she decided not to run for a second term.  And supporters of same-sex marriage were dealt a crushing defeat at the ballot box last week.

Behind the Scenes at MSNBC  —  We wrote here about MSNBC's disgraceful attacks on Charles and David Koch and Koch Industries in connection with the Trayvon Martin shooting.  Guest host Karen Finney said: … A few days later, Van Jones, a guest on MSNBC, said:

House GOP Kills Proposal to Block Indefinite Detention of US Citizens  —  At least it's on the record: Most House Republicans support the indefinite detention without trial of American citizens.  —  During Thursday's floor debate over the latest national defense authorization act …

Stay-at-Home Moms Report More Depression, Sadness, Anger  —  But low-income stay-at-home moms struggle the most  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — The degree of difficulty of being a stay-at-home parent is evident in a new Gallup analysis of more than 60,000 U.S. women interviewed in 2012.

Advice to would-be Romney running mates: Run for the hills  —  Nothing is easier to mock in politics right now than the apparent reluctance of leading Republicans to sign on as Mitt Romney's second banana.  A few weeks ago, Jon Stewart summarized the way that Rob Portman was plugging …

Biden on W. Va. felon vote: 'I don't blame people, they're frustrated, they're angry'  —  Here's a clip from Vice President Joe Biden's interview with WTOV-TV in West Virginia yesterday, the latest stop he's made this week, where he was asked about what he made of out-of-state incarcerated …

Romney's Smart, Unsentimental Strategy  —  Presidential campaigns often delude themselves about what forces control the fate of the campaign.  They believe that the charisma of the candidate, or the force of his ideas, or the tactical brilliance of his advisers hold the key to victory.

Breaking News: Divided D.C. Circuit Panel Upholds Constitutionality of Voting Rights Act, Teeing Up Issue for Supreme Court  —  The Shelby County opinion is here.  Judge Williams dissented.  The court also issued a unanimous opinion in the related LaRoque case, finding the issue mooted …

Facebook Falls Back to IPO Price  —  Underwriters Stepped In to Support Social Network's Shares at Offering Price  —  Facebook Inc.'s public debut had plenty of buzz but not much pop. The shares opened 11% higher, but struggled to stay above their $38 offering price and ended the day up just 23 cents.

The Age of Innocence  —  The people who pioneered democracy in Europe and the United States had a low but pretty accurate view of human nature.  They knew that if we get the chance, most of us will try to get something for nothing.  They knew that people generally prize short-term goodies over long-term prosperity.

John Boehner adds to pressure on Eric Holder  —  There's about to be a lot more pressure on Eric Holder from Capitol Hill about the Fast and Furious investigation.  —  Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Whip Kevin McCarthy joined with Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa …

Wong's affirmation of gay families ‘a watershed’  —  The exchange between Penny Wong and Joe Hockey on Q&A this week about gay parents is only about two and half minutes long.  —  Prompted by an audience question about why the shadow treasurer thinks he and his wife make better parents …

Race issues return with Rev. Jeremiah Wright  —  The renewed focus on President Barack Obama's controversial pastor is reviving the issue that neither presidential campaign wants to discuss directly: race.  —  But the differing reactions Thursday from Obama aides and Romney officials …

House Democrats Introduce Voter Empowerment Act  —  SHARE: EMAIL PRINT FACEBOOK TWITTER  —  Today, House Democrats introduced the Voter Empowerment Act, comprehensive voting rights legislation to modernize our voter registration system, ensure equal access to the ballot box …

Meet the Rubios  —  WEST MIAMI, Fla. — Marco and Jeanette Rubio, sitting side by side on their brown sofa in their sunny house, could be any young couple musing about life: juggling four kids, a job that separates them, aging parents, their faith and whether or not to move.  —  Only they're not just any couple.

Equal rights and the U.S. economy  —  Are equal rights good for the economy?  Campaigns against discrimination, like the battles for women's rights and civil rights in the 1960s and the fight for gay marriage equality today, are usually framed as struggles for justice.

Apocalypse Fairly Soon  —  Suddenly, it has become easy to see how the euro — that grand, flawed experiment in monetary union without political union — could come apart at the seams.  We're not talking about a distant prospect, either.  Things could fall apart with stunning speed, in a matter of months, not years.

First on CNN: Romneys donated $150,000 of own money to presidential bid  —  Posted by CNN Senior Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash  —  Washington (CNN) - Mitt and Ann Romney each donated $75,000 this week to the Romney Victory Fund, the joint fundraising committee between Romney's campaign …