Tea Party candidates launch battle against Republican honchos  —  Several Republican senators' reelection efforts are being threatened by conservative challengers such as the controversial Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Tex.)  —  Republican honchos like Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) are facing an uprising.

Iowa Poll: The early favorites for 2016 presidential race  —  Iowa Poll: Presidential candidate preferences: Iowa Poll: Presidential candidate preferences  —  Hillary Clinton, left, and Paul Ryan / Getty Images photos  —  Coming Monday  —  How do Iowans feel about health care reform and its rollout?

Ambassador Kennedy: A star is born  —  Caroline Kennedy is a long way from Syracuse.  —  The soft-spoken presidential scion, who four years ago this month toured upstate New York in a short and ill-fated bid for the U.S. Senate, has swept with force into her newest public role as President Barack Obama's ambassador in Japan.

5 things we learned from McCain's interview on ‘State of the Union’  —  (CNN) - Sen. John McCain joined CNN's “State of the Union” from Kiev, Ukraine, on Sunday after the Arizona Republican addressed thousands of protesters who are angry over the Ukrainian government's decision to backpedal away …

White House delayed enacting rules ahead of 2012 election to avoid controversy  —  The White House systematically delayed enacting a series of rules on the environment, worker safety and health care to prevent them from becoming points of contention before the 2012 election …

The Selling of Attention Deficit Disorder  —  The Number of Diagnoses Soared Amid a 20-Year Drug Marketing Campaign  —  After more than 50 years leading the fight to legitimize attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Keith Conners could be celebrating.  —  Severely hyperactive …

“Never be afraid of tenderness”  —  In this exclusive interview, Pope Francis speaks about Christmas, hunger in the world, the suffering of children, the reform of the Roman Curia, women cardinals, the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), and the upcoming visit to the Holy Land

Enrollment Errors Cut, Officials Say; Fixes Are Overstated, Insurers Report  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Saturday that it had reduced the error rate in enrollment data sent to insurance companies under the new health care law, even as insurers said that files they received …

SantaCon is on!  Drunken Saint Nicks, Mrs. Clauses swarm city streets  —  The annual bacchanal kicked off in the East Village, but the belligerent Santas and naughty elves made their way towards Downtown Brooklyn for a ‘Rudolph Dance-Off.’  —  The SantaCon Twitter account …

Denver Post Stealth Edits Out ‘Socialist’ from Profile of Arapahoe School Shooter  —  On Friday, Colorado's Arapahoe High School was put on lockdown while a student armed with a shotgun took over the school in an attempt to confront a teacher who he believed had wronged him.