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 …

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?

Gallup Poll: Rural Whites Prefer Ahmadinejad to Obama  —  TEHRAN (FNA)- According to the results of a Gallup poll released Monday, the overwhelming majority of rural white Americans said they would rather vote for Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad than US President Barack Obama.

George W. Bush posts better favorability ratings than Mitt Romney in new Bloomberg survey  —  Former President George W. Bush smiles as he arrives on the 18th hole at the end of the Bush Center's Warrior Open golf tournament this week in Irving.  (AP Photo/LM Otero)

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.)

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 …

The Million Wingnut March  —  There's been a steadily building discussion, albeit shrouded in some mystery, about the potential impact on Election Day (and to some extent, before it) of right-wing “volunteer poll watchers” who are promising to descend on minority neighborhood to make sure …

Democrats to join call for more information on Libya terrorist attack  —  Senate Democrats on Thursday will join their Republican colleagues in pressing the administration for more information about the deadly attack that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans in Benghazi.

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 …

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.

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.

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:

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.

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 …

Noonan: 2012 Debates— This Is It, Mitt  —  How Romney can make the most of his face-off with Obama.  —  “Governor, the success or failure of your entire presidential campaign will come down to what happens between the hours of 9 and 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 3.  We're at a hinge point in history.

Obama Cabinet Flunks Disclosure Test With 19 in 20 Ignoring Law  —  On his first full day in office, President Barack Obama ordered federal officials to “usher in a new era of open government” and “act promptly” to make information public.  —  As Obama nears the end of his term …

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.

Matt Damon's Anti-Fracking Movie Financed by Oil-Rich Arab Nation  —  A new film starring Matt Damon presents American oil and natural gas producers as money-grubbing villains purportedly poisoning rural American towns.  It is therefore of particular note that it is financed in part …