Just How Racist Is the ‘Obama Phone’ Video?  —  There was a video leading the Drudge Report on Thursday afternoon of a poor black woman with messed-up teeth saying she's voting for President Obama because he gave her a free phone, and perhaps you have some questions about it.  Questions like: Is this video racist?

In the end, it's Mitt  —  It isn't the chair or the ho-hum convention.  Or the leaked video.  Or Stuart Stevens.  Or the improving economy.  Or media bias.  Or distorted polls.  Or the message.  Or Mormonism.  —  It's Mitt.  —  With Republicans everywhere wondering what has happened …

Mitt Romney: King of comedy  —  It is time to cut Mitt Romney some slack.  It is wrong to criticize him until you've walked a mile in his living room.  —  That last line was a joke that someone posted on Twitter.  Jokes have power.  When a politician makes a joke, he can make a point …

Producer of inflammatory anti-Islam film arrested, ordered held without bail  —  Los Angeles (CNN) — Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the man allegedly behind the inflammatory film “Innocence of Muslims,” was ordered held without bail Thursday after being arrested in California and accused of violating his probation.

Go large, Mitt  —  In mid-September 2008, Lehman Brothers collapsed and the bottom fell out of the financial system.  Barack Obama handled it coolly.  John McCain did not.  Obama won the presidency.  (Given the country's condition, he would have won anyway.  But this sealed it.)

Shock Photos of Netanyahu at U.N. from AP, Reuters  —  Two shocking photos coming off the wire of Benjamin Netanyahu addressing the United Nations moments ago.  —  The first is from the Associated Press:  —  Associated PressAssociated Press  —  The second is from Reuters:  —  ReutersReuters

Dems join chorus questioning Obama on attack … Senate Democrats joined Republicans Thursday in questioning the Obama administration's handling of the fatal Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya and why the administration refused for days to acknowledge that it was a terrorist attack linked to al Qaeda.

Allen West Attacks Dem Opponent For 2003 Bar-Fight, ‘Verbal Assault’ Of Policeman  —  Rep. Allen West (R-FL) launched a new television attack ad Friday against his Democratic opponent Patrick Murphy — going after a bar-fight in which Murphy was involved in 2003.

France taxes rich and business to slash deficit  —  (Reuters) - President Francois Hollande's Socialist government unveiled sharp tax hikes on business and the rich on Friday in a 2013 budget aimed at showing France has the fiscal rigor to remain at the core of the euro zone.

NYC PROHIBITS CONTROVERSIAL SUBWAY ADS IN WAKE OF ISLAMIST'S VANDALISM  —  Just one day after an Islamic activist attempted to cover over private property in spray paint (and a woman who got in her way), the Metropolitan Transit Authority in New York has announced they will amend their rules …

Pictured: The ‘beautiful’ family slain hours after church by ‘mentally ill father tormented by the prospect of Obama winning the election’  — Albert, Kathleen, Mathew and Christopher Peterson were found dead Tuesday in their Herndon, Virginia home  — A friend of the family …

Webb drops the hammer on Romney  —  Jim Webb's departures from party orthodoxy are frequent.  As recently as last November, the retiring Virginia Democratic senator was reluctant to commit to campaigning for President Barack Obama.  —  So Webb's bladework today on Mitt Romney was as unexpected as it was memorable.

Sen. John Cornyn says GOP is not going to spend money to help Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin  —  WASHINGTON - Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said on Thursday that he does not intend to put money into the race of controversial Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin.

Dems Darken Image of Black Republican House Candidate  —  A printed mailer sent out by the Utah Democratic party features what appears to be a darkened photo of Republican House candidate Mia Love.  Below is the image of the mailer:  —  Here's the original photograph, in color:

N.J. High School Students Planning Cafeteria Boycott To Protest Obama Guidelines  —  PARSIPPANY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — Students at Parsippany Hills High School held a strategy session on Thursday to discuss a potential lunch strike, on Friday, over what they have called inadequately sized meals.

Obama eCard for Women: ‘Can I Borrow $18,000 to Help Pay for My Birth Control?’  —  The Obama campaign has created a series of electronic greeting card aimed at women voters.  “President Obama summed up the Republican Party's approach to women's health when he said 'they want to take us …

Polls: Obama leads in N.H., tighter in Nev., N.C.  —  President Barack Obama leads Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in New Hampshire, and the two are locked in tight contests in Nevada and North Carolina, according to a new series of NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls released Thursday.

The Voters Are Voting (The Note)  —  By MICHAEL FALCONE (@michaelpfalcone) and AMY WALTER (@amyewalter)  —  NOTABLES:  — DEBATE EXPECTATIONS — FRIDAY MORNING EDITION: The campaigns are continuing to lower expectations before next week's first presidential debate, as ABC's David Muir reported on …

Explosion rocks Jewish community center in Malmo  —  No injuries reported in Sweden's third-largest city; two suspects arrested  —  An explosive device detonated in front of a Jewish community center in Malmo, Sweden, early Friday morning.  There were no injuries reported.