Guests: Karl Rove

"Beginning with his reaction to violence in the Middle East and extending to his secretly-taped comments about Americans wanting entitlements, the last seven days have not been good for Governor Romney. However, despite the national media's disdain for Mitt Romney, the election remains very close. Many committed Republicans are frustrated with Governor Romney; they believe he's made too many mistakes, comes across as remote, and is on defense rather than offense. With just 47 days before the vote, it looks like Governor Romney will have to persuade the voters by winning the debates. A fascinating part of the election cycle is how many people continue to believe in Barack Obama. It's clear that his economic policies haven't worked and the economic situation remains bleak. So if you're going to vote for the President, you're doing it on emotion and you hope things will turn around. The same thing can be said for Mitt Romney's free marketplace strategy, but Romney has a far stronger economic background. But the race remains deadlocked and that's because both candidates have visible deficits."

The Factor asked Fox News analyst Karl Rove to assess the current state of the race. "Last week in the immediate aftermath of the Democratic convention," Rove said, "there was some movement toward Obama. There were 20 states in which there was some kind of movement and 14 of them were toward Obama. But the election is still up for grabs. We have to be careful about reading too much into the polls; in September of 1980 Ronald Reagan was trailing Jimmy Carter despite double-digit inflation, double-digit interest rates, and double-digit unemployment." Rove pointed out that most national polls include a larger sampling of Democrats than they should. Nevertheless, The Factor concluded that "Mitt Romney looks like he doesn't have control of his campaign, he can't capture any momentum."

Guests: Thomas Friedman

In 1998, while a state senator, President Obama said, "I actually believe in redistribution." The Factor analyzed that philosophy with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. "There's no question you want some level of safety net," Friedman said, "because that goes with capitalism. The societies that are strongest are those that combine a healthy public-private partnership. The public part enables people through infrastructure and social safety nets for people who can't keep up, and unleashes the private sector by stimulating people to invest and start things up." Friedman also criticized Mitt Romney as a faux conservative. "He's pretending to be someone he's not. As Governor of Massachusetts he was a Northern liberal Republican, but that's not what he's been running as." The Factor couldn't resist taking a shot at Friedman's employer: "Your newspaper believes in income redistribution and 'social justice' and is right down the line with Barack Obama on that philosophy."

Guests: Dick Morris

While most people are focused on the presidential race, Republicans are hoping to recapture a majority in the Senate. The Factor asked political strategist Dick Morris to opine. "Republicans absolutely will win the Senate," Morris declared. "There are three seats that are almost given Republican wins in North Dakota, Nebraska, and Wisconsin, and there are three other seats that are about to fall into Republican hands. Republicans will pick up five or six seats." Morris also took issue with the Talking Points Memo and the notion that Mitt Romney had a bad week. "This was not a rough week for Romney," Morris argued. "The media loves to yell, 'gaffe, gaffe, gaffe,' and say Romney is screwing up. But now he has told the truth about the 47% and I think it will be a positive by injecting welfare and entitlements into this campaign. The crisis abroad is also going to sap Obama's credibility on what had been his strength."

Guests: Bernie Goldberg

Fox News media analyst Bernie Goldberg watched tape of Mitt and Ann Romney on "Live with Kelly & Michael," during which they spoke about the Jersey Shore cast. Goldberg was not amused. "Mitt Romney talking about Snooki," Goldberg quipped, "is like Yogi Berra lecturing about art during the Ming Dynasty. Mitt Romney doesn't know jack about Snooki, so what does it say when he makes believe he does? It says, 'I'm going to pander to the audience.'" Goldberg also laid out why he is openly rooting for Romney. "I simply don't think Barack Obama is a good President. He's the kind of person who can look you in the eye and say, 'I want to unify this nation' after he has spent months pitting Americans against each other based on how much money they have, telling us there is a war on women, and having his Vice President strongly suggest that Republicans are racists. He is not a competent President."

Guests: Dennis Miller

While Mitt Romney was a guest on a daytime talk show, Barack Obama sat down and fielded questions from David Letterman. The Factor asked Dennis Miller to critique the interview. "Barack Obama is a great talk show guest," Miller conceded, "and I think if he loses in November, Letterman should bring him on as his sidekick. But as far as the presidency goes, it ain't good right now. The country looks like crap and I can't wait until November 6th to get it on and figure out which way we're going." Miller also approved of Mitt Romney's secretly-taped warning that too many Americans are on the dole. "We're starting to skew over into a place where more people are not going for it than going for it, and that is dangerous. I look at the Occupy Wall Street movement and see trouble down the road; Barack Obama looks at the Tea Party and sees trouble down the road. I've never seen it uglier than it is right now and he's at the helm and he's got to take some blame, for God's sake. C'mon, you're the President and it's ugly!"

Guests: Juliet Huddy

Rapper Kanye West has a new "song" that includes these catchy lyrics: "Mitt Romney don't pay no tax." Fox News correspondent Juliet Huddy defended the song. "It's a rap and he's an entertainer," she began. "He's also a P.R. genius because he's rapping about something you're talking about here." Huddy also opined on the British conservationist who allowed his 18-month-old daughter to play with a gorilla. "This video is twenty years ago and it just came out because he knew there would be flak for it. This father studied gorillas, he lived with them, and look at how much fun this is. He says he never put his child in danger." The Factor disagreed, saying, "This is a wild animal and that was a poor parental decision!"

Paul Johnson, Morrison, TN: "O'Reilly, your Talking Points on Mitt Romney's 47% comment were the best ever. Like Charles Krauthammer said, if Romney said things that way, he'd be president."

Tony McCabe, County Meath, Ireland: "Mr. O, six weeks ago I emailed you saying Mitt Romney was not connecting with the American people. His most recent comments prove that."

Jon Rembold, Lady's Island, SC: "Bill, your debates with Jon Stewart are what is right with America. Two people who fundamentally disagree having some laughs together. You'll roll him at the Rumble."

Al Puzyn, The Villages, FL: "Bill, why do you give Stewart street cred by debating him?"

Instead of betting in football pools, how about starting a "patriot pool?" You all throw in ten bucks and the first one that gets his or her letter printed in a newspaper wins all the dough.