Eric Holder To Step Down As Attorney General  —  Eric Holder Jr., the nation's first black U.S. attorney general, is preparing to announce his resignation Thursday after a tumultuous tenure marked by civil rights advances, national security threats, reforms to the criminal justice system …

Conservatives Launch ‘Unprecedented’ Campaign Against Pro-Marriage Equality Republicans  —  National Organization for Marriage, Family Research Council, and CitizenLink lash out against candidates “working to actively alienate the Republican base.”  —  Olaf Faeskorn/Tisei for Congress

VIDEO RELEASED: SC trooper charged with felony in shooting at traffic stop over seat belt violation  —  COLUMBIA, SC — An S.C. trooper who stopped a man for a seat belt violation outside Columbia and then shot him - apparently without provocation - was arrested Wednesday and charged with assault …

Ferguson police chief tells CNN: I will not step down  —  Watch the full interview with Police Chief Tom Jackson on “Anderson Cooper 360°” tonight at 9 p.m. ET.  —  (CNN) — Ferguson, Missouri, Police Chief Thomas Jackson — under fire for his department's handling of the Michael Brown shooting …

Zoo in coverup after groundhog dropped by de Blasio dies  —  Mayor Bill de Blasio couldn't hold onto the Staten Island Zoo's squirming groundhog.  —  Mayor Bill de Blasio has groundhog blood on his hands!  —  A week after Hizzoner dropped Staten Island Chuck in front of a crowd of spectators on Feb. 2 …

Cheney rips Obama for ‘Ferguson’  —  Dick Cheney says it's “outrageous” that President Barack Obama mentioned the summer's unrest in Ferguson, Mo., while speaking about ISIL during a speech at the United Nations.  —  “I was stunned,” the former vice president said on Wednesday during an interview on Fox News' “Hannity.”

Romney 2016 is for real  —  BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL 2016 ELECTIONS MITT ROMNEY  —  Is Mitt Romney, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination and lost in 2008, ran again and won the nomination but lost the general election in 2012, really thinking about running yet again for president in 2016?

SD Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Somehow Plagiarized Biographical Sentence  —  Mary Burke had her own policies plagiarized.  —  Susan Wismer For South Dakota / Via Facebook: SusanForSD  —  Democratic gubernatorial South Dakota nominee appears to have plagiarized parts of her issues page …

Senate Races: What September Polling Trends Tell Us  —  About a month ago, I wrote a pair of articles about the 2014 elections, one regarding the Senate, and another focused on the House.  The goal of the articles was to try to reconcile two disparate sets of data tied to this election.

Gabby Giffords's Gun-Control Ads Are Being Criticized Because They're Working  —  Strange but true: getting shot in the head will make a person want to defeat political candidates who oppose gun control laws.  Actually, getting shot in the head is usually fatal.

The Anti-Vaccination Epidemic  —  Whooping cough, mumps and measles are making an alarming comeback, thanks to seriously misguided parents.  —  Almost 8,000 cases of pertussis, better known as whooping cough, have been reported to California's Public Health Department so far this year.

Beating Brownback Would Redeem 2014  —  After reading Patrick Caldwell's very thorough explanation of why Gov. Sam Brownback's in danger of losing in November, I'm more convinced than ever that whether or not Republicans are kept from taking control of the Senate, it would be an important …

FBI says it has identified ‘Jihadi John’ seen in ISIS execution videos but will not reveal his identity or nationality  — Comey said he was ‘not confident at all’ the threat from Khorasan militant group was thwarted by this week's airstrikes  —  The FBI has identified the ISIS executioner …