Will Mississippi mudslinging give Dems a chance in South?  —  If Chris McDaniel on Tuesday knocks off Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), national Democrats will have a rare offensive opportunity in the Deep South.  —  The nasty, divisive primary fight comes to a close in tonight's runoff election …

Testy Exchange Erupts as I.R.S. Chief Is Questioned on Messages  —  WASHINGTON — Representative Darrell Issa of California, the Republican who is leading one of the investigations into the Internal Revenue Service's scrutiny of Tea Party groups, accused the I.R.S. commissioner on Monday of lying …

Scott Walker Fan Indicted For Massive Voter Fraud  —  True the Vote was nowhere to be found when Robert Monroe stuffed the ballot box for Scott Walker and Alberta Darling?  —  Repeat after me: Consistently documented voter fraud is a Republican phenomenon, not a Democratic one.

2nd Bridge Inquiry Said to Be Linked to Christie  —  Investigations into the Christie administration and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have zeroed in on possible securities law violations stemming from a $1.8 billion road repair agreement in 2011, according to people briefed on the matter.

After Exchanges Close, 5% of Americans Are Newly Insured  —  More than half of newly insured in '14 got insurance through exchanges  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Five percent of Americans report being newly insured in 2014.  More than half of that group, or 2.8% of the total U.S. population …

Hillary Clinton to collect $225,000 for keynote at UNLV fundraiser  —  Hillary Clinton will be paid $225,000 to address an Oct. 13 fundraiser for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, a reminder of how much cash the potential Democratic presidential candidate is scooping up on the speaking circuit …

Obama's Disastrous Iraq Policy: An Autopsy  —  The president ignored the country for years, with tragic results.  And liberals shouldn't be afraid to admit it.  —  Yes, the Iraq War was a disaster of historic proportions.  Yes, seeing its architects return to prime time to smugly slam President Obama …

Sudanese Christian woman rearrested, legal team says  —  (CNN) — A Sudanese Christian woman who'd been sentenced to die for refusing to renounce her faith — and then released — was rearrested Tuesday at an airport as she was trying to leave the African country, her legal team told CNN on Tuesday.

GOP Senator: 'I'm Not Going To Oppose' Gay Marriage If Voters Want It  —  Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) said Tuesday he wouldn't oppose gay marriage if voters decided that's what they wanted.  —  “I'm a pretty traditional guy,” Johnson said, in comments reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

PLAYBOY INTERVIEW: GARY OLDMAN  —  When actors list other actors they deeply admire, Gary Oldman's name inevitably shoots to the top.  Sid Vicious, Dracula, Beethoven, Lee Harvey Oswald, The Dark Knight's Commissioner Gordon, Harry Potter's Sirius Black—Oldman's range is so staggering …

The existential crisis of the liberal millionaire  —  David Brock has a message for liberal millionaires: Don't sweat being called hypocrites.  —  Brock, a former “right-wing hit-man"-turned-top-big-money- Democratic-operative, is part of a behind-the-scenes campaign to convince donors it's OK …

Boehner Says He's ‘All In’ to Remain as Speaker  —  Days after House Republicans overhauled much of their leadership team, House Speaker John Boehner said Tuesday that he's “all in” to remain as speaker in the new Congress that will meet next year.  —  The Ohio Republican's remarks came …

BILL CLINTON OFFERS ADVICE FOR UDALL, TALKS POTENTIAL HILLARY RUN  —  Former President Bill Clinton comes over to chat with the media during his tour of the new Stout Street Health Center and Renaissance Stout Street Lofts June 23, 2014.  Mayor Hancock and John Parvensky …

Pressure builds for Huppenthal to quit  —  PHOENIX — Pressure on the state's top school official to resign continued to mount Monday as more anonymous blog posts from John Huppenthal emerged.  —  Using an online alias, the superintendent of public instruction posted several comments …

Rage Against the Outrage Machine  —  The scene is familiar to every soccer fan: An aggressive defender slightly bumps a striker, who reacts as if struck by a taser's barb.  His arms flail.  His legs crumple beneath him.  He writhes on the turf, grabbing at indeterminate pain.

Wingnuts' destructive shenanigans — and the media who enable them  —  Here's why one side is to blame — and why it matters  —  The latest Pew Poll deep dive into American political attitudes inspired a very bored Ron Fournier to sigh deeply, dust off his lace cuffs and blithely wave off all concerns about …

The Supreme Court Correctly Affirms the E.P.A.'s Authority  —  The Clean Air Act is a complex and often confusing piece of legislation, especially when it comes to confronting the challenges of global warming, which were not fully understood when the original law was passed in 1970.

A Thin Rationale for Drone Killings  —  The Obama administration on Monday reluctantly released its justification for killing an American citizen, Anwar al-Awlaki, whom it considered a terrorist, in a 2011 drone strike in Yemen.  But the rationale provides little confidence that the lethal action was taken with real care.