Why Hagan wins North Carolina  —  Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) is the target of what could be the most aggressive, dishonest, vindictive and lavishly financed negative campaign against any statewide candidate I've ever seen, yet according to the summary of polling from Real Clear Politics …

Exclusive: GOP poll of women: Party ‘stuck in past’  —  A detailed report commissioned by two major Republican groups — including one backed by Karl Rove — paints a dismal picture for Republicans, concluding female voters view the party as “intolerant,” “lacking in compassion” and “stuck in the past.”

NRA: ‘Children Can Have Fun At The Shooting Range’  —  WASHINGTON — Less than two days after a 9-year-old girl in Arizona accidentally shot and killed a gun range instructor who was showing her how to fire an Uzi, the National Rifle Association on Wednesday touted new ways for children to “have fun” at shooting ranges.

Holder Cut Left-Wing Groups In On $17 Bil BofA Deal  —  Extortion: Radical Democrat activist groups stand to collect millions from Attorney General Eric Holder's record $17 billion deal to settle alleged mortgage abuse charges against Bank of America.  —  Buried in the fine print of the deal …

How U.S. Interventionists Abetted the Rise of ISIS  —  Our Middle Eastern policy is unhinged, flailing about to see who to act against next, with little regard to consequences.

False Hope: Why Libertarians Won't Help Republicans Win the Youth Vote  —  The Republican Party has a major problem with young voters.  According to national exit polls, the GOP has lost the under-30 vote by a wide margin in every election since 2004.  In 2012, Barack Obama defeated Mitt Romney …

Did Tony die at the end of The Sopranos?  —  David Chase finally answers the question he wants fans to stop asking  —  The main topic of conversation about The Sopranos, seven years after the series finale, is still whether Tony Soprano, mob boss of North Jersey, is dead or not.

The Extreme Partisanship of John Roberts's Supreme Court  —  Like Barack Obama, the chief justice came into office promising an age of apolitical comity.  And like the president, he has seen his dream die.  —  “Politics are closely divided,” John Roberts told scholar Jeffrey Rosen after his first term as chief justice.

MUSLIM GANG RAPISTS ARE SPRINGING UP EVERYWHERE.  WHY CAN'T WE BE HONEST ABOUT IT?  —  The notorious Sydney gang rapes in 2000 were committed by Lebanese Australians.  Muslim men raped women and girls as young as 14.  Australia, being a sensible sort of place, identified that the rapists …

Senate Democrats are outperforming expectations  —  [Note: this is a work in progress.  I'm basically seeking comment as I develop a November predictive model.  Please give your feedback... -Sam]  —  I've been asked why the PEC Senate poll snapshot is more favorable to Democrats …

Official: Russian forces back rebels with tanks in eastern Ukraine  —  Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) — Pro-Moscow rebel forces in eastern Ukraine, backed by Russian tanks and armored personnel carriers, battled government forces on two fronts Thursday, a Ukrainian military official said.

The Biggest Tax Scam Ever  —  Some of America's top corporations are parking profits overseas and ducking hundreds of billions in taxes.  And how's Congress responding?  It's rewarding them for ripping us off  —  In July, the American pharmaceutical giant AbbVie, maker of the world's top-selling drug …

Gillibrand To Male Colleague Who Called Her ‘Porky’: ‘Thanks A—hole’  —  In promoting her new book, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) has come forward with several stories of being called “chubby,” “fat,” and “porky” by her male colleagues in Congress.  —  In one incident from her early days in the Senate …

LePage slams newspapers, revs up GOP faithful during Auburn rally  —  AUBURN, Maine — During a visit to celebrate the Maine Republican Party's new headquarters in Androscoggin County on Wednesday, Gov. Paul LePage delivered a 30-minute pep talk to party faithful.

F&M College Poll: Corbett failing to gain ground in race with Wolf  —  Doris Berko and Cindy Butzer might live in the same town, but they find themselves on opposite sides of the political landscape.  —  Both women, who reside in Leola, were participants in the latest Franklin & Marshall College poll released Thursday morning.

Is Everyone a Little Bit Racist?  —  Let's start with what we don't know: the precise circumstances under which a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo., shot dead an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown.  —  But here's what evidence does strongly suggest: Young black men in America suffer …

Two legal guests tell CNN their Brown shooting audio might be a hoax  —  For more than 24-hours, CNN has been regularly playing a clip of audio which purports to reveal the exact moment when 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot by Officer Darren Wilson.  Each time it was played …