Is Obama tough enough in dealing with ISIS?  —  President Obama delivers a prime time address from the Cross Hall of the White House on September 10, 2014 in Washington, D.C. SAUL LOEB/AFP/GETTY IMAGES  —  Shares -  —  Despite his speech announcing his strategy to “degrade and ultimately destroy” …

Jewish group brands Biden's Shylock comment ‘offensive’  —  Yahoo News 16 hrs ago  —  Vice President Joe Biden drew fire from a prominent Jewish group on Tuesday after he described unscrupulous bankers who prey on servicemen and servicewomen deployed overseas as “Shylocks” — a term frequently condemned as an anti-Semitic caricature.

It's Benghazi day again on Capitol Hill  —  Two years, seven congressional committee investigations, 25,000 pages of documents, 50 briefings, nine reports, and at least eight subpoenas later, Congress is trying once again to get to the bottom of Benghazi.  —  On Wednesday, the House Select Committee …

A failure to communicate?  —  Washington (CNN) — It's the one tenet of President Barack Obama's ISIS strategy that's remained ironclad: No U.S. troops are headed back into Iraq for combat.  —  At least it was ironclad until Tuesday, when Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff …

Obamacare: From game-changer to background noise  —  A year ago, it looked like Obamacare was going to have a huge role in this year's elections.  And not in a good way — as a symbol of government incompetence and the Republicans' main case against President Barack Obama's record.

POLL: IN BIG SHIFT, BEAUPREZ POSTS 10-POINT LEAD ON HICKENLOOPER  —  Republican Bob Beauprez holds a 10-point lead against Gov. John Hickenlooper, according to a new poll, marking a major shift in a governor's race deadlocked for months.  —  The Quinnipiac University Poll, released Wednesday …

Another Look at Electoral Change  —  Last fall, I posted some data on the changes in Democratic and Republican support in the states in presidential elections, in part in response to observations made by a number of pundits and politicians that there is an increasing Democratic “lock” on the Electoral College.

The Disappearing “Undue Burden” Standard for Abortion Rights  —  Those words—"undue burden"—represent Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's most important triumph during her long and consequential tenure on the U.S. Supreme Court.  Almost single-handedly, O'Connor rewrote abortion law.

Rubio: ISIS could be entering US from Mexico  —  Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said late Tuesday that ISIS militants could be crossing the Mexican border into the United States.  —  Asked by Fox News host Sean Hannity if ISIS “would use the southern border to cross,” Rubio said “Sure, potentially.”

Bill Clinton: Vote ‘no’ in Scotland  —  Former President Bill Clinton has issued a statement urging Scots to reject the upcoming independence referendum.  —  In a statement released through the pro-unity Better Together campaign, the 42nd president said Scots could send …

Official: Rogue state could weaponize Ebola  —  A rogue state could turn Ebola into a weapon of mass destruction, a federal health official acknowledged Tuesday.  —  Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said it would take a “state-type” …

Gates: 'There Will Be Boots on the Ground If There's to Be Any Hope of Success in the Strategy'  —  Robert Gates, President Obama's first defense secretary, said this morning on CBS that President Obama's strategy for defeating the Islamic State is unrealistic:

From outside voice to inside player: Rise of Steve Scalise reflects changing House GOP  —  At the center of the swirling congressional debate over funding the government and arming rebels in Syria stands the new House majority whip, Rep. Steve Scalise, whose rise to power reflects …

Democrats now have a 51 percent chance of holding the Senate  —  Democrats are now (very slightly) favored to hold the Senate majority on Nov. 4, according to Election Lab, the Post's statistical model of the 2014 midterm elections.  —  Election Lab puts Democrats' chances of retaining …

Minnesota Vikings Reverse Course, Suspend Adrian Peterson … The Minnesota Vikings have reversed course on the handling of running back Adrian Peterson, placing him on the exempt/commissioner's permission list — meaning he is suspended indefinitely from all team activities amid the running back's child-abuse case.

Oregon Doctor GOP Senate Candidate's Health Plan Plagiarized From Karl Rove Group's Survey  —  Very strange.  —  Monica Wehby / Via Facebook: monicafororegon  —  Republican Senate candidate Monica Wehby's original health plan appears to have been plagiarized from a survey done …

Judge: Hobby Lobby Decision Means Polygamous Sect Member Can Refuse To Testify In Child Labor Case  —  A law enforcement officer escorts polygamist religious leader Warren Jeffs (center) from the courthouse where he was convicted of two counts of child sexual assault