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.

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 …

ANOTHER MSNBC SCANDAL?  BLAZE READERS AT CAMPAIGN EVENT CLAIM NETWORK MISLED IN VIDEO OF RALLY CHANT (WITH AUDIO COMPARISON)  —  On Wednesday, MSNBC aired a clip of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney leading what looks like a failed “Romney-Ryan” chant at a campaign stop in Ohio on Tuesday …

Sept. 27: The Impact of the ‘47 Percent’  —  After a secretly-recorded videotape was released on Sept. 17, showing Mitt Romney making unflattering comments about the “47 percent” of Americans whom he said had become dependent on government benefits, I suggested on Twitter that the political impact …

Todd Akin Suggests Employers Should Be Able To Pay Women Less  —  Todd Akin appeared to endorse allowing employers to pay women less than men at a town hall on Thursday.  —  Gender discrimination in compensation has been illegal in the United States since the passage of the 1963 Equal Pay Act.

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?

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.)

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)

Dearborn Muslims rally against the First Amendment  —  Led by a newspaper publisher, Muslim activists will call for putting limits on American free speech at a Dearborn rally this evening.  You can't make this stuff up.  —  Nearly a decade after Dearborn's streets celebrated America …

Akin consultant compares his fortitude to cult-leader David Koresh  —  • BY KEVIN McDERMOTT > kmcdermott@post-dispatch.com > 314-340-8268  —  UPDATE 1:48 p.m.: Akin spokesman Ryan Hite has responded with a one-line written statement: “It was a stupid comment to make.”

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 …

Kerry, Rice position themselves on Benghazi attack  —  The two most discussed candidates to be America's next top diplomat now find themselves on opposite sides of the Libya issue, with U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice in the role of defending the administration's narrative and Sen. John Kerry …

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 …

With ‘Dreams From My Real Father,’ Have Obama Haters Hit Rock Bottom?  —  A pseudo-documentary that slimes Ann Dunham, the president's late mother, is being mailed to swing-state voters.  A look at the film and Dinesh D'Souza's book, Obama's America.  —  So this is what it's come to.

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 …

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 neighborhoods to make sure …

Romney's Plan to Win Virginia: Lyme Disease  —  On Thursday evening, Anahita Nemat, a conservative PR specialist living in Northern Virginia, tweeted out this photo, with the description: “Received my first mailer from @MittRomney & @PaulRyanVP today.  It talks about Lyme Disease.  Huh?  I'm confused!

Friend of U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan pleads guilty to campaign violations  —  In a stunning development just weeks before the November election, one of U.S. Rep Vern Buchanan's longtime friends and another man pleaded guilty Thursday to making illegal campaign contributions.

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 …

US immigration chief: Same-sex ties are family ties  —  Same-sex couples will be considered “family relationships” in immigration proceedings, according to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, a move that could help stem the deportation of those in gay or lesbian binational relationships.

Inside The Planning Of A James O'Keefe “Sting”  —  The conservative provocateur planned a sting of SEIU in 2010 — based off information from a source of John Fund's, with Foster Friess as a potential investor.  It didn't end up working out.  (Updated below)  —  Source: images.politico.com

What Cutting Medicaid Means: A Personal Story  —  TNR readers are familiar with Harold Pollack, the University of Chicago professor who writes frequently about health care and social policy.  Like all good public intellectuals, Harold is a policy omnivore—as comfortable discussing …

Rep. West features opponent's mug shot in harsh television ad  —  Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) released a biting new ad in the battle to keep his House seat that features a mug shot of his opponent while showing the lawmaker serving in the Army.  —  The 30-second spot compares what West …

Explaining Today's Great Jobs News  —  Our guest blogger is Heather Boushey, a senior economist at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.  —  New data released this morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the private-sector added 450,000 more jobs as of March 2012 than previously thought.

Billionaire Soros pledges $1.5 mln to Democratic ‘Super PACs’  —  * Soros once held record for campaign-year donations  —  Billionaire financier George Soros has committed $1.5 million to “Super PACs” backing President Barack Obama and Democrats running for Congress in the Nov. 6 election, officials with those groups said on Thursday.

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.