New York's Junior Senator, Doggedly Refusing to Play the Part  —  WASHINGTON — If there were a chutzpah caucus in the United States Senate, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York would be its natural leader.  —  On a fund-raising swing through Chicago this fall, she told donors to pressure …

Rand Paul Says Wife is Against a 2016 Run  —  There's at least one member of Sen. Rand Paul's family who isn't quite on board just yet with a 2016 run — and that's his wife.  —  After a speech at the Detroit Economic Club today, Paul, a Republican senator from Kentucky …

Lazy Journalists Aren't to Blame for Death of Print  —  This week's announcement that New York magazine was becoming a biweekly was greeted, in my profession, with the sort of cheer that might herald the announcement of a sewer line backup or a mid-honeymoon appendectomy.  —  New York magazine is very successful.

Third Way Op-Ed Writer Says Elizabeth Warren's Backing Of Social Security Plan Was The ‘Final Moment’  —  Jim Kessler, senior vice president for policy and a co-founder of Third Way, said Friday morning that Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (D-Mass.) backing of a plan to expand Social Security compelled …

Doctors boycotting California's Obamacare exchange  —  WATCHDOG OBAMACARE CALIFORNIA HEALTH CARE HEALTHCARE.GOV HEALTH CARE EXCHANGES  —  An estimated seven out of every 10 physicians in deep-blue California are rebelling against the state's Obamacare health insurance exchange and won't participate …

Obama has shown how a future GOP president can gut Obamacare  —  BARACK OBAMA OBAMACARE REPUBLICAN PARTY  —  I owe Mitt Romney an apology.  —  During the 2012 Republican presidential primary season, I repeatedly criticized Romney — and personally challenged him during his editorial board meeting …

South Carolina Sheriff Refuses To Lower Flag For Mandela  —  Rick Clark, the sheriff of Pickens County, S.C., vowed on Friday to defy President Obama's order that U.S. flags be lowered to half staff in honor of deceased South African leader Nelson Mandela.  —  Clark made his promise …

Those Media Hysterics Who Said Obama's Presidency Was Dead Were Wrong.  Again.  —  It's been a pretty good week for the Obama administration.  The bungled healthcare.gov Web site emerged vastly improved following an intensive fix-it push, allowing some 25,000 to sign up per day, as many as signed up in all of October.

Is This 36-Year-Old Veteran the Future of the GOP?  —  Two Ivy League degrees.  Two tours of duty.  Can Tom Cotton win the Senate for the GOP?  —  HOT SPRINGS, Ark.—On a recent late-fall Saturday, Barbara Deuschle, a local restaurant owner, was recounting her first impression of her congressman …

Slowly They Modernize: A Federal Agency That Still Uses Floppy Disks  —  WASHINGTON — The technology troubles that plagued the HealthCare.gov website rollout may not have come as a shock to people who work for certain agencies of the government — especially those who still use floppy disks, the cutting-edge technology of the 1980s.

Veteran Seized by North Korea During Tour Is Back Home in United States  —  SAN FRANCISCO — An American veteran who had been held prisoner in North Korea for more than a month landed in the United States on Saturday after his release by the government, which cited his “sincere repentance” …

CDC: Water at Marine base linked to birth defects  —  RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A long-awaited study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a link between tainted tap water at a U.S. Marine Corps base in North Carolina and increased risk of serious birth defects and childhood cancers.

Charlie Cook: This is one of the most dramatic shifts in a generic congressional ballot I've ever seen  —  Although sales of “Green Eggs and Ham” spiked up, after the 16-day government shutdown in October, the numbers weren't quite as good for the Republican Party at least with the generic congressional ballot polls.