President Obama's Ebola problem  —  The Ebola crisis in the United States has become an anchor threatening to sink the Obama presidency.  —  Already under fire from critics who saw the federal response to the outbreak as disorganized and timid, things went from bad to worse on Wednesday …

‘Fan’ dispute overshadows sharp debate between Charlie Crist and Gov. Rick Scott  —  ›  —  ‹  —  In the weirdest start of a gubernatorial debate, Florida Gov. Rick Scott initially refused to take the stage Wednesday night because Democrat Charlie Crist insisted on a fan to keep him cool.

Witness adds new perspective to Ferguson shooting  —  • By Christine Byers cbyers@post-dispatch.com > 314-340-8087  —  CLAYTON  • A stream of eyewitnesses has been testifying in secret before a grand jury considering whether to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting …

Meghan McCain: My dad hates Rand Paul  —  Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) daughter said on Wednesday that her father and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) “hate each other.”  —  Meghan McCain appeared on Howard Stern's SiriusXM radio show to promote her “TakePart Live” talk show on Pivot TV.

Is A Colorado Senate Candidate Lying About His Football Career?  —  UPDATE: Gardner campaign spokesman Alex Siciliano sent the following, presented in its entirety, via email: “Cory Gardner played football from Junior High through Sophomore year in high school.”

John Grisham: men who watch child porn are not all paedophiles  —  As best-selling novelist John Grisham prepares to publish his new legal thriller, he argues America's prison system has run out of control  —  America is wrongly jailing far too many people for viewing child pornography …

The Democrats' Most Effective Midterm Message: Outsourcing  —  Taking a page from Obama's 2012 playbook, Democrats have found a winning message in a dismal political environment.  —  CHICAGO—Of all the negative campaign messages that Democrats have used this midterm election …

2014: A Tale of Two Elections  —  New 2014 Senate and House ratings  —  As we approach the home stretch, 2014 has turned into a tale of two elections.  On the one hand, this is a classic sixth-year itch election where the incumbent president's party is going to suffer losses in both houses of Congress.

Revealed: how Whisper app tracks anonymous users  — Company shares some information with US Department of Defense  — User data collated and indefinitely stored in searchable database  —  Whisper app rewrites terms of service and privacy policy  —  How the ‘safest place on the internet’ tracks its users

The Reinventions of Rand Paul  —  Subscriber content preview. or Sign In  —  Can he fix what ails the GOP?  —  The tattooed and pierced longhairs never showed up to see Senator Rand Paul speak with students at the University of South Carolina in Columbia last month.

The Divorce-Proof Marriage  —  A diamond is forever, but an expensive engagement ring means the marriage might not last that long.  According to a new study, spending between $2,000 and $4,000 on an engagement ring is significantly associated with an increase in the risk of divorce.

Gillespie off the air this week  —  Republican Senate candidate Ed Gillespie has gone dark on Virginia television, three sources tracking the airwaves told POLITICO.  —  An adviser to his campaign says they plan to go back up on Saturday.  —  The news comes as the Gillespie camp announced …

Markets Panicked On Wednesday.  Here's Why the U.S. Economy Is OK.  —  Wednesday was an ugly day for the global economy.  British and German stocks each fell around 3 percent.  Greek stocks fell 6 percent.  (That's huge.)  In the U.S., a trifecta of economic indicators—retail sales …

Milwaukee officer in fatal Red Arrow Park shooting fired  —  By Gina Barton and Ashley Luthern of the Journal Sentinel  —  The Milwaukee police officer who fatally shot Dontre Hamilton at Red Arrow Park has been fired because he did not follow department procedures for dealing …