Democrats are in denial.  Their party is actually in deep trouble.  —  The Democratic Party is in much greater peril than its leaders or supporters recognize, and it has no plan to save itself.  —  Yes, Barack Obama is taking a victory lap in his seventh year in office.

Poll: Trump Hits Highest Mark Yet, But Carson Is Close Behind  —  Real estate mogul Donald Trump remains the frontrunner in the Republican presidential field, while former neurosurgeon Ben Carson holds a close second place, a new NBC News/ Wall Street Journal poll shows.

George W. Bush unleashes on Ted Cruz  —  <p>Inside a sleek Denver condominium, George W. Bush let a hundred donors to his brother's campaign in on a secret.  Of all the rival Republican candidates, there is one who gets under the former president's skin, who he views as perhaps Jeb Bush's …

CNN/ORC poll: Hillary Clinton wins debate, but Bernie Sanders rises  —  Washington (CNN)With the first Democratic debate in the books, a new CNN/ORC poll finds most who watched think Hillary Clinton had the best performance of the night, but her strong showing hasn't boosted her standing in the race for the party's nomination.

Gowdy appears to accidentally release CIA source's name  —  <p>House Benghazi Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy appears to have accidentally released the name of a CIA source in the midst of a back-and-forth with Democrats about how sensitive the information was and whether its presence …

Americans' Desire for Stricter Gun Laws Up Sharply  —  STORY HIGHLIGHTS  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Fifty-five percent of Americans say they want laws covering the sale of firearms to be stricter than they are now, a distinct rise of eight percentage points from 2014.

Jim Webb to consider running as an independent  —  Jim Webb, the longshot Democratic presidential candidate, may run as an independent, his campaign said in an email to reporters on Monday evening.  —  The former Virginia senator, who complained last week about not having enough talking …

What The New York Times Didn't Tell You  —  “Nearly every person I worked with, I saw cry at their desk.”  —  If you read the recent New York Times article about Amazon's culture, you remember that quote.  Attributed to Bo Olson, the image of countless employees crying at their desks set …

Anthony Mackie Endorses Donald Trump: He Worked His Way Up From Nothing  —  The Our Brand Is Crisis actor said he is “drinking the Kool-Aid.” … Looks like we might see Anthony Mackie on the campaign trail with Donald Trump.  During a sit-down chat with BET.com during the promotional trail …

Stoner high school student says he hacked the CIA  —  Hillary Rodham Clinton's e-mail scandal didn't stop the head of the CIA from using his own personal AOL account to stash work-related documents, according to a stoner high-school student who claims to have hacked into them.

Trump Is Right About 9/11  —  Donald Trump utters plenty of ugly untruths: that undocumented Mexican immigrants are “rapists,” that Syrian refugees are committing “all sorts of attacks” in Germany and represent a “Trojan Horse” for ISIS.  But he tells ugly truths too: that “when you give …

Dramatic motorcycle crash caught on video; DPS investigating  —  GRANBURY - The road rash and deep cuts all over Eric Sanders' body only begin to tell the story.  —  “I've got a gouge in my elbow that is bone-deep,” Sanders said.  —  The video tells the rest.

We need thoughtful, not expedient, criminal justice reform  —  Republican and Democrat lawmakers in Washington have long been criticized for their failure to work together in producing legislation that will actually benefit most Americans.  The popularity of “outsider” presidential candidates Donald Trump …