Roberts rebounds in Kansas Senate race, CNN/ORC poll finds  —  Washington (CNN) — Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts has galvanized enough rank-and-file Republican voters to close the gap with independent challenger Greg Orman in one of the nation's hottest races, a new CNN/ORC poll has found.

Texas Ebola patient dies  —  (CNN) — Thomas Eric Duncan, the man with Ebola who traveled to the United States from Liberia, died Wednesday morning at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, the hospital said.  —  He had been in critical condition after being diagnosed with the virus in mid-September.

Anthony Kennedy Halts Gay Marriage In Idaho, Nevada  —  Justice Anthony Kennedy issued an order to halt same-sex marriage in Idaho — and apparently also Nevada — on Wednesday after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the states' bans one day earlier.

NBC Wanted to Hire Jon Stewart As Host of Meet the Press  —  “They were ready to back the Brink's truck up,” one source said  —  This Sunday marks Chuck Todd's one-month anniversary in the anchor chair at Meet the Press.  Despite an opening-week ratings spike from his exclusive sit …

Jimmy Carter: President Obama blew it on ISIL  —  Former President Jimmy Carter is criticizing President Barack Obama's Middle East policy, saying he has shifting policies and waited too long to take action against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.  —  In an interviewed published Tuesday …

In Defense of Obama  —  President Obama signing the Affordable Care Act.  In our new cover story, Paul Krugman explores the president's successes.

Open carry enthusiast robbed at gunpoint: ‘I like your gun.  Give it to me.’  —  DON'T MISS STORIES.  FOLLOW RAW STORY!  —  A Gresham, Oregon open carry enthusiast was robbed of his weapon on Saturday by another man with a gun.  —  According to KOIN Channel 6, 21-year-old William Coleman III …

The hardest-working man in Democratic politics  —  Hillary Clinton's potential challengers  —  Washington (CNN) — A Democrat with White House ambitions is furiously criss-crossing the country to help the party's candidates — and it's not Hillary Clinton.

POLICE PEPPER SPRAY WAKE COUNTY TEEN INSIDE HIS HOME AFTER HE'S MISTAKEN FOR BURGLAR  —  The parents of a Wake County high school student are outraged that police pepper-sprayed him inside their home after a neighbor mistook him for an intruder.  —  It happened Monday afternoon on England Avenue in Fuquay-Varina.

Can Liberalism Be Saved From Itself?  —  My recent collision with Ben Affleck on Bill Maher's show, Real Time, has provoked an extraordinary amount of controversy.  It seems a postmortem is in order.  —  For those who haven't seen the show, most of what I write here won't make sense unless you watch my segment:

Tens of thousands of Walmart workers are about to lose their health insurance — and it's good news!  —  Walmart, the world's largest retailer, announced Tuesday that it would no longer offer health insurance benefits to its 26,000 part-time workers.  —  Nobody likes losing any kind of benefit at work.

REJECTED: Kroger Managers Are Refusing To Accept Bullying Tactics of Moms Demand Action  —  The body language says it all.  A Kroger store manager in Ohio (right) refuses to be an unwilling participant in Moms Demand's latest bullying public relations stunt.

No, Islamic State Militants Have Not Been Caught by U.S. Border Patrol  —  Since the U.S. began airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against the Islamic State, Republicans have frequently connected the terrorist group to border security in the U.S. In August, Texas Governor Rick Perry called it a …

Karl Rove is ruining the GOP  —  Karl Rove recently tried to advise Republicans on how the party can more effectively take back the Senate in November.  He made two main suggestions.  —  One was that Republican candidates must “make the case for electing someone new who will be a check …