POLITICO poll shows mounting danger for Dems  —  President Barack Obama's job approval slump and voters' entrenched wariness of his health care law are dogging Democrats ahead of the 2014 midterm elections, and Republicans have captured a lead in the areas home to the year's most competitive races, according to a new POLITICO poll.

Read What Georgia's Michelle Nunn Actually Said About Obamacare  —  Former President George H.W. Bush walks onstage with Points of Light Institute CEO Michelle Nunn for a speech on October 16, 2009, in College Station, Texas.  —  Earlier today the GOP oppo group America Rising sent out a series …

Federal Judge Strikes Down Oregon Same-Sex Marriage Ban, Weddings Can Start Immediately  —  State officials have said they will not appeal the ruling.  Judge's order is effective immediately.  —  Supporters of same-sex marriage gather for a rally in Portland, Oreg., on April 22.

Florida Lawmaker: Common Core Will Turn ‘Every One Of Your Children’ Gay  —  Florida Republican Rep. Charles Van Zant, left, believes that increasing educational standards cause homosexuality.  —  CREDIT: AP Photo/Phil Coale  —  Common Core may not be a well-intentioned set …

Exclusive: VA Scandal Hits New Hospital  —  Veterans with serious heart conditions, gangrene, and even brain tumors waited months for care at the Albuquerque VA hospital, a whistleblowing doctor tells The Daily Beast.  —  Add Albuquerque, New Mexico's to the growing list of VA hospitals accused …

Cochran campaign knew of wife's taping for weeks  —  Sen. Thad Cochran's (R-Miss.) legal team apparently held onto information concerning a man's taping of the senator's bedridden wife for as many as two weeks before turning it over to the police.  —  Cochran's campaign spokesman …

Ira Glass Doesn't Know or Care Who Edits the New York Times  —  The “This American Life” host admits he's not up on the biggest media story of the moment.  —  This afternoon at the Peabody Awards, which celebrate TV, web, and radio storytelling, “This American Life” host Ira Glass admitted he's …

Why Democrats Are Aching to Run Against Jeb Bush  —  On Friday, Hillary Clinton spoke at the New America Foundation's “Big Ideas” conference (disclosure: I'm a New America senior fellow).  Her basic theme was familiar—the American dream of upward mobility is in peril—though she did offer a couple of intriguing twists.

Data Pirates of the Caribbean: The NSA Is Recording Every Cell Phone Call in the Bahamas  —  The National Security Agency is secretly intercepting, recording, and archiving the audio of virtually every cell phone conversation on the island nation of the Bahamas.

For 2016 Hopefuls, Washington Experience Could Do More Harm than Good  —  Military Service Top Positive, Atheism Top Negative for Potential Candidates  —  As the 2016 presidential campaign begins to take shape, Washington experience has become less of a potential asset for those seeking the White House.

Monica Wehby's ex-husband accused her of ‘ongoing harassment’ during divorce: police report  —  The ex-husband of Republican Senate candidate Monica Wehby accused her of “ongoing harassment” as they were going through a divorce in December 2007, documents obtained by The Oregonian show.

Exploring the Origins of the Legend of Joe Biden  —  I've been wondering about this for a while: I just noted this story about how a Connecticut teen invited Joe Biden to her prom and he replied by sending a corsage.  But I've wondered for a while about the origins of what I'll call the still-growing Joe Biden Legend.

Marco Rubio's ‘pot’ hole  —  Why won't Sen. Marco Rubio say whether he's ever smoked pot?  —  The Florida Republican, who maintains a strict stance against the legalization of marijuana, refuses to answer whether he's ever personally smoked it.  Rubio told “Politics Confidential” …

The state of conservative media  —  We've come a long way.  We have a long way to go.  —  Some new and familiar faces...  I  —  n the beginning, long ago, before the rise of talk radio, cable TV, and blogs, the liberal-leaning mainstream media was the only game in town.

James Webb: “I Heard My Country Calling”  —  Former U.S. Sen. Jim (D-VA) is a decorated combat veteran of the Vietnam war.  Among his awards, he received the Navy Cross and two Purple Hearts serving as a Marine.  In a new memoir he writes of how growing up in a military family helped shape …

EXCLUSIVE: Democracy Alliance Network Revealed  —  A secretive dark money group backed by George Soros and other liberal mega-donors is looking to steer nearly $40 million to left-wing groups in 2014 to support high-profile political and policy efforts, according to documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

The One Percent at State U  —  New report finds that student debt and low-wage faculty labor are rising faster at state universities with the highest-paid presidents.

Truthers Plan to Hand out Fake Brochures for 9/11 Museum On Opening Day  —  The dedication of the new National September 11 Memorial Museum happened last week, with speeches from President Obama and Mayor de Blasio and flags flown at half-mast outside at the World Trade Center Memorial Plaza.

NRA Thinks #BringBackOurGirls Hashtag Isn't 2nd Amendment-y Enough  —  The hashtag #BringBackOurGirls, which was launched to bring attention to the kidnapping of hundreds of girls in Nigeria by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, has inspired plenty of discussion, on Twitter and elsewhere.

Marc Andreessen on the Future of Silicon Valley(s), and the Next Big Technology  —  Silicon Valley is starting to feel a little less exuberant these days.  —  Some big start-ups are having trouble raising money.  Others are delaying plans to go public.  Hot new technologies like Bitcoin …