America was in crisis this week -- from football, to bacon, to politics. Mitt Romney went to war with himself and got some advice from Newton Leroy Gingrich about the upcoming debates. Before Alex Wagner left for a weekend vacation on Jupiter, she made sure to look back at What Just Happened?!

The latest NBC News/WSJ/Marist poll is out, and it shows a tight race between President Obama and Governor Mitt Romney in three key battleground states: North Carolina, Nevada, and New Hampshire.

The President and the Governor are statistically tied in both North Carolina (48-46 Obama) and Nevada (49-47 Obama). In New Hampshire - where Governor Romney has a home and campaigned heavily during the primary - the President's lead is more definitive, 51-44.

NBC News and Marist have released polls in nine battleground states over the past three weeks, and all of them show the President with leads ranging between 2 and 8 points. According to Marist Poll director Lee Miringoff, "Romney has to change the number in most, if not all of these states."

'Friday' a dominant trend on Twitter this morning. A very dominant one.

Magid CPI: Netanyahu: Iran Could Have Nukes; Several Killed in a Shooting in Minneapolis; Warning signs seen before 'Son's of Anarchy' actor Johnny Lewis' death 

Google: Google; Johnny Lewis; PNC

Twitter: Finally Friday; #FollowFriday; #TGIF

Twitter Political Index: Obama 26 (+2)/Romney 22 (-3)

YouTube: MacGyver - The MacGyver Song by Eric Bert

YouTube Politics: American Crossroads: Quantum of Easing

Billboard (Hot 100): One More Night – Maroon 5; Gangnam Style – PSY; Some Nights – fun.

Billboard (Ringtones): Pontoon – Little Big Town; Whistle – Flo Rida; Call Me Maybe – Carly Rae Jepsen

Just about everyone in Washington is afraid of the looming "sequester" -- due to slash $109 billion from next year's budget (including half from the Department of Defense) if no action is taken by the January 2 deadline -- but as of yet, no one has a plan to do anything about it. Enter a new "Gang of Six" (no, not that one,  or that one either) whose members say they are committed to coming up with a "balanced, bipartisan deficit reduction package" to avert the dreaded cuts. The problem? They need to come up with a grand plan to cut $1.2 trillion from the nation's books over the next 10 years and do it in a lame-duck session of Congress following a bitter presidential election. Not easy. Don't forget, the reason we're currently in this fiscal bind is because the bipartisan "super committee" created as part of last summer's debt ceiling deal failed to reach consensus on a way forward. What's different now?

Back then, Republicans refused to raise net revenue through the tax code, while Democrats balked at any dramatic changes to Medicare and Social Security. The key word coming from the new group of senators here is "balanced." The six senators -- Carl Levin (D-MI), John McCain (R-AZ), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) -- seem to be suggesting that tax hikes will be a part of their proposed solution. But the key question, as always, remains: Will Republicans go along with it?

It appears Governor Mitt Romney is now questioning his own arithmetic. At a campaign event yesterday, he admitted to voters that they shouldn't count on "a huge cut in taxes."

Why the apparent backtrack? It could be because Romney is finally accepting what independent analysts have been saying for months: his tax plan is mathematically impossible. In an often-cited report, the Tax Policy Center says the only way Romney could implement a tax plan that wouldn't add to the deficit would be to hike taxes on the middle class--that is to say, people making less than $200,000 a year.

“A lot of people can talk. Talk is cheap.”

That was Governor Mitt Romney campaigning in Ohio yesterday, criticizing President Obama's record on numerous fronts, including foreign competitiveness.  The President, just 130 miles away, was taking Governor Romney to task, saying that talk was "better than what he’s actually done" on the jobs front - a direct reference to Team Obama's consistent attacks on Governor Romney over outsourcing.

The heated rhetoric on the campaign trial comes as mounting polling data shows the President is pulling ahead of Governor Romney. It also comes in key swing states, like Ohio, which are getting a hyper-focus from both candidates before next week’s critical first Presidential debate.

Today on NOW we'll look more closely at the campaign rhetoric, and with 40 days to go, ask: Are the campaigns getting desperate?

PANEL

Richard Wolffe, msnbc Political Analyst (@richardwolffedc) 

Howard Wolfson, Deputy NYC Mayor/Fmr. Hillary Clinton Adviser (@howiewolf)

Lois Romano, Senior Political Reporter, POLITICO (@loisromano)

Josh Tyrangiel, Editor, Bloomberg Businessweek (@tyrangiel)

GUEST

David Leonhardt, Washington Bureau Chief, The New York Times

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) (@senatorshaheen)

A rare bit of relative balance on the Twitter political index.

Magid CPI: Romney campaign: Romney Talks 'Character Assassination'; NFL: Reaches Tentative Agreement With Refs; Obama campaign: With superior ground operations, Obama widens his lead in Ohio 

Google: Andy Williams; Lady Gaga; Avalanna

Twitter: #nowplaying; #TVShowsIGrewUpWith; #ImHappiestWhen

Twitter Political Index: Obama 24 (-1)/Romney 25 (+1)

YouTube: You Didn't Build That – PolitiZoid

YouTube Politics: Table - Obama for America TV Ad

Billboard (Hot 100): One More Night – Maroon 5; Gangnam Style – PSY; Some Nights – fun.

Billboard (Ringtones): Pontoon – Little Big Town; Whistle – Flo Rida; Call Me Maybe – Carly Rae Jepsen

The Romney campaign woke up to some disappointing poll numbers this morning. While a CNBC survey reporting that 55% of voters believe the economy is worse off than it was four years ago would normally be good news for the Romney camp, the poll also gave President Obama a 9% point edge on who would do a better job with the economy over the next four years. For a candidate whose calling card in this election is “Mr. Fix-it” for the economy, it could be an ominous sign.

Headlines about Governor Mitt Romney paying a 14.1% effective tax rate in 2011 may have been the last thing some early voters saw before casting their ballots -- probably to the frustration of the Romney campaign. While each campaign jockeys for the best position come November 6th, early and absentee voting is already underway. In half the country (25 states) polls have already opened for early or absentee ballots (see the graphic below showing the states where voting has already started). That means whatever is happening right now in this race could have a direct impact on the final result. In some crucial swing states, that impact could be tremendous. In 2008, early ballots accounted for 78.9% of the vote in Colorado and 60.6% of the vote in North Carolina. 

Sir Winston Churchill once famously remarked that democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others... The same thing could be said of the illustrious 112^th congress, whose members packed their bags over the weekend and departed the capital for a seven-week break that will see them remain in their home districts through the presidential election. Their next day in the office? November 13. This, after the House was in session for just twelve– Yes, count ‘em, twelve – days in August, September and October. Nice work if you can get it!

If you followed our Twitter feed over the weekend, you may have noticed Alex and the NOW team had a busy weekend working on our Education Nation special, "The Parent Teacher Association." This morning, we're back to our regular programming, and there's several items we're bringing to the table.

First: Governor Mitt Romney's 2011 tax return, which was released Friday afternoon after arguably one of the worst weeks of his presidential campaign. According to the documents, Governor Romney's tax rate in 2011 was 14%, up slightly from 2010. The Romney's tax payment was significantly higher this year due to their charitable giving, which totaled $1.75 million. Team Obama is hitting Team Romney on the tax release already. But is this issue pretty much over, or will it ramp up with new fodder? We'll discuss.

Plus: Skipping town. Congress left for recess in the earliest departure in decades, effectively kicking the can down the road on issues including taxes and the budget until the November election. It's the latest proof of a broken Washington and the absence of bipartisan leadership. We'll speak with Luke Russert and our panel, and bring some of Alex's signature "real talk" to the conversation when we join you at noon ET for NOW.

PANEL

Michael Steele, Fmr. RNC Chairman/msnbc Political Analyst (@steele_michael)

Sam Stein, The Huffington Post/msnbc Contributor (@samsteinhp)

Heather McGhee, Vice President, Demos (@hmcghee)

Eric Bates, Executive Editor, Rolling Stone

REPORTER

Luke Russert, NBC News (@lukerussert) 

The Fifty Shades trilogy finally knocked off the NYT Best Seller fiction list, while Mark Owen's account of the Bin Laden killing remains atop the nonfiction list.

Magid CPI: Emmys 2012: Top Emmy Moments; Romney campaign: Obama Is Trying to Fool Voters With Inaccurate Attacks; Obama campaign: Does Romney want 'to start another war' in Middle East 

Google: Emmys; Torrey Smith; Tracy Morgan

Twitter: 60 Minutes; Emmys; #China

Twitter Political Index: Obama 24 (+0)/Romney 17 (+0)

YouTube: Guild Wars 2 Trailer: Our Time is Now

YouTube Politics: Not One of Us - Obama for America TV Ad

Billboard (Hot 100): One More Night – Maroon 5; We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together – Taylor Swift; Some Nights – fun.

Billboard (Ringtones): Pontoon – Little Big Town; Whistle – Flo Rida; Call Me Maybe – Carly Rae Jepsen

NYTimes Best Sellers (Fiction): A Wanted Man, by Lee Child; Fifty Shades of Grey, by E.L. James; Delusion in Death, by J.D. Robb

NYTimes Best Sellers (Nonfiction): No Easy Day, by Mark Owen with Kevin Maurer; The Price of Politics, by Bob Woodward; Killing Lincoln, by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard

The release of Governor Mitt Romney’s now-infamous “47 percent” video has dominated the news cycle this week, capping off a rough few weeks for the Republican ticket. The majority of the criticism has been focused on the Governor’s statement regarding those not paying income tax.  A notable claim by Romney was that those “who are dependent upon government” have a feeling of entitlement and view themselves as “victims.”

The statements appear to group together anyone who has received any type of government assistance. Hence, by Governor Romney’s own reasoning, the nearly one third of America’s undergraduate students who receive federal student loans would view themselves as “victims.” That would be trouble, seeing as these are the students who are ultimately getting the educations that would help bolster the U.S. economy and guide the country through the 21^st century. Speaking as witnesses to the opportunity that these loans provide, Romney’s claim that we are victims could not be further from reality. We see ourselves as the next generation of leaders, yet we would not be here without the support of our country.

Here's a look at Alex and Ezra Klein breaking down who else Romney considers "victims:"

America learned a lot more about the Republican candidate for president this week, as secrets were exposed both willingly and against all efforts. Check out the video below as we take a look back at What Just Happened?!