Why a GOP Senate could be short-lived  —  Senate Democrats have long awaited the 2010 tea party wave to splash back on Republicans during the 2016 election cycle.  —  That moment is almost here.  —  After two years of obsessive focus on the teetering reelection prospects of red-state Democrats …

Obama's Midterm Loss Record Could Make History  —  President Barack Obama is about to do what no president has done in the past 50 years: Have two horrible, terrible, awful midterm elections in a row.  —  In fact, Obama is likely to have the worst midterm numbers of any two-term president going back to Democrat Harry S. Truman.

Hillary Clinton network to meet for strategy session  —  The pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC Ready for Hillary is planning a National Finance Council meeting featuring speakers like National Urban League president Marc Morial, former Obama 2012 pollster John Anzalone and longtime Bill Clinton …

The Prospect of a Republican Senate  —  In a rare fit of realism on Tuesday, Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, admitted he would be unable to repeal the Affordable Care Act if Republicans win the Senate next week and he becomes majority leader.

Scott Brown Tackles New Hampshire Geography In Final Debate  —  WASHINGTON — Republican Senate challenger Scott Brown's efforts to cast himself as a New Hampshire native went awry in his final debate against Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D) on Thursday when a question on economic problems facing Sullivan County turned into a geography lesson.

Graphic: New details released in near-beheading murder of Stillwater teen, one in custody … STILLWATER, Okla. - A 21-year-old Stillwater man has been charged with first-degree murder in connection to the death of an area college student who, according to police, was nearly decapitated.

Democrats: Vote or we'll kick your ass  —  Democrats are telling voters that they had better head to the polls — or else.  —  The New York State Democratic Committee is bullying people into voting next week with intimidating letters warning that it can easily find out which slackers fail to cast a ballot next Tuesday.

Kaci Hickox's boyfriend: 'We don't believe that we can get anyone sick'  —  (CNN) — The boyfriend of a Maine nurse who defied an Ebola quarantine is speaking out, saying isolating returnees from West Africa will affect their partners as well.  —  Nurse Kaci Hickox recently returned …

Apologizing to Japan  —  TOKYO — For almost two decades, Japan has been held up as a cautionary tale, an object lesson on how not to run an advanced economy.  After all, the island nation is the rising superpower that stumbled.  One day, it seemed, it was on the road to high-tech domination …

How Candy Conquered Halloween  —  In her book “Candy: A Century of Panic and Pleasure,” retired Rutgers University literature professor Samira Kawash investigates the surprisingly neglected story of how business and technological innovations turned the U.S. into what a 1907 visitor called “the great candy eating nation.”

Democrat Seth Moulton rejects support from same-sex marriage opponents  —  Responding to calls from the National Organization for Marriage for social conservatives to vote for pro-LGBT Democrat Seth Moulton over his openly gay Republican opponent, Richard Tisei, Moulton's campaign refused such support Thursday.

Don't be a slave to reform, says finance figure  —  The chairwoman of the Financial Services Development Council, Laura Cha Shih May-lung, has spelled out her stand on pushing for election reform.  —  She says be patient.  —  “American slaves were liberated in 1861 but did not get voting …

Why Republicans Keep Telling Everyone They're Not Scientists  —  WASHINGTON — Gov. Rick Scott of Florida, a Republican who is fighting a Democratic challenge from former Gov. Charlie Crist, was asked by The Miami Herald if he believes climate change is significantly affecting the weather.

Guns Are a Greater Public Health Threat Than Ebola  —  Shepard Smith was the rare voice of reason during the most fevered hours of the Ebola madness that temporarily gripped the nation this month (October).  The Fox News anchor dedicated four minutes of a newscast to explaining what had been evident once you took a deep breath.

The Growing Halloween Depravity of Grownups  —  Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, and Michael Myers kill kids rushing to become adults.  Is it too much to ask of the ghoulish trio to apply their talents toward adults rushing to become kids?  —  The grownups who have decimated the ranks …

Less Than Half of Americans Support Stricter Gun Laws  —  Story Highlights  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Less than half of Americans, 47%, say they favor stricter laws covering the sale of firearms, similar to views found last year.  But this percentage is significantly below the 58% recorded …

Richard Berman Energy Industry Talk Secretly Taped  —  WASHINGTON — If the oil and gas industry wants to prevent its opponents from slowing its efforts to drill in more places, it must be prepared to employ tactics like digging up embarrassing tidbits about environmentalists and liberal celebrities …

Second-Hand Grocery Store To Open In Pennsylvania  —  Expiration dates are a luxury America's neediest cannot afford.  —  CREDIT: Shutterstock  —  A small town outside Pittsburgh is getting a new, unusual grocery shopping option.  Denise Marte is opening a store that will sell dented cans …