In Iowa, tea party defender Ted Cruz says he knows how to unite the GOP  —  Conservative purist Ted Cruz addressed the concerns of any Iowa Republicans who reject him as too rigid, arguing he knows exactly how to unify the GOP and how to turn the country around.  —  The answer: “Restore historic economic growth,” he said.

Michelle Obama's Princeton classmate is executive at company that built Obamacare website  —  First Lady Michelle Obama's Princeton classmate is a top executive at the company that earned the no-bid contract to build the failed Obamacare website.  —  Toni Townes-Whitley, Princeton class of '85 …

Xia Yeliang: The China Americans Don't See  —  A Peking University economics professor who was sacked for his political views explains the underside of elite Chinese higher education.  —  The 21st-century romance between America's universities and China continues to blossom …

GOP Civil War  —  Oh, it's on: … RINO hunt!  This is astonishing, and can only be driven by an ideological mindset so impervious to reality that it would rather destroy political conservatism's chances of actually running the country than succumb to the least impurity in the ranks.

Immigration Poses Threat of Another Republican Rift  —  WASHINGTON — A push to bring immigration legislation to the House floor, led by an unusual coalition of business executives, prominent conservatives and evangelical leaders, threatens to create another schism in the Republican Party …

Obama's Top Economic Adviser Tells Democrats They'll Have to Swallow Entitlement Cuts  —  This morning, Gene Sperling, director of the White House's National Economic Council, appeared before a Democratic business group for what was billed as a speech about the economy after the shutdown, followed by a Q&A session.

Delay Obamacare?  Not as easy as you think  —  More and more Democrats worried about the 2014 election are beginning to join the Republican call to delay the Obamacare enrollment season.  —  But it's not as easy as bumping things back a few days on the calendar.

Cindy McCain petitions husband to back gay rights bill  —  Call it a bold canvassing move that paid off: An organizer for the Human Rights Campaign asked Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) wife Cindy to sign a postcard Thursday urging the senator to back legislation barring workplace discrimination …

Obamacare Website Flaws Imperil President's Activist Agenda  —  The rocky debut of the insurance exchanges at the heart of President Barack Obama's health-care law poses risks to his political agenda and the activist role for government that he has championed for his second term.

Obama's Valerie Jarrett: Often Whispered about, But Never Challenged  —  President Obama's aides went to extraordinary lengths to uncover the identity of a senior official who was using Twitter to make snarky comments about White House staffers.  Suspicion gradually centered on Jofi Joseph …

Shepard Smith's Office Romance: A 26-Year-Old Fox Staffer  —  Shepard Smith, the endlessly endearing (and easily angered) Fox News anchor, has likened the right-wing channel to a “family,” with president Roger Ailes as its domineering father.  Which makes it only slightly awkward that in early 2012 …

Former Guantanamo detainee was on ground in Benghazi during terror attack, source says  —  A former Guantanamo Bay detainee with Al Qaeda ties was in Benghazi the night of the Sept. 11 attack, according to a source on the ground in Libya.  —  The source told Fox News that ex-detainee Sufian bin Qumu …

Leaked memos reveal GCHQ efforts to keep mass surveillance secret  —  Exclusive: Edward Snowden papers show UK spy agency fears legal challenge if scale of surveillance is made public  —  The UK intelligence agency GCHQ has repeatedly warned it fears a “damaging public debate” …

Obama says he doesn't want to hear about spending cuts  —  President Obama told Republicans in Congress that he doesn't want to hear about additional cuts to government programs after the 16-day shutdown.  —  The president said the country can afford to make investments in areas like education …