Ebola Vaccine Would Likely Have Been Found By Now If Not For Budget Cuts: NIH Director  —  BETHESDA, Md. — As the federal government frantically works to combat the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, and as it responds to a second diagnosis of the disease at home, one of the country's top health officials …

Mitt Romney Told an Obama Joke in Iowa.  Here It Is.  —  WEST DES MOINES, Iowa - Mitt Romney wanted to tell a joke.  “Now when you're running for office people tell you, you shouldn't tell jokes,” he said at a political rally here on Sunday.  “But I'm not running for office, so I can tell one.”

An Obamacare October surprise?  —  Obamacare premiums aren't rising everywhere.  They just have a way of finding the states with the biggest Senate races.  And that could be very bad timing for Democrats in two of the party's key contests.  —  Double-digit rate hikes for individual health insurance plans …

Alaska same-sex ban struck down  —  ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A federal judge on Sunday struck down Alaska's first-in-the-nation ban on gay marriages, the latest court decision in a busy week for the issue across the country.  —  U.S. District Judge Timothy Burgess said the ban violated …

Accused College Rapists Have Rights, Too  —  The victims deserve justice.  The men deserve due process.  —  This August, Columbia University released a new policy for handling “gender-based” misconduct among students.  Since April, universities around the country have been rewriting …

What the Next Two Awful Years Will Look Like  —  The five things to fear about a Republican Congress  —  I. The Gutting of Dodd-Frank  —  If Republicans take control of the House and Senate, many of their members will call for the outright repeal of the Dodd-Frank financial reforms.

Leaning Forward, MSNBC Loses Ground to Rival CNN  —  Rachel Maddow, the biggest star on the MSNBC cable network, just posted her lowest quarterly ratings results ever.  —  “Morning Joe,” MSNBC's signature morning program, scored its second-lowest quarterly ratings, reaching an average …

Unlike in Spain, Dallas Ebola patient's dog will be saved  —  DALLAS — The health care worker who tested positive for Ebola has a dog, but the mayor of Dallas says unlike in a recent Spanish case, the dog will be kept safe for eventual reunion with its owner.

How Republicans lost the culture war  —  On Aug. 17, 1992, Pat Buchanan and the Republican Party declared a “culture war ... for the soul of America.”  On Oct. 6, 2014, Republicans surrendered.  —  Twenty-two years ago at his party's national convention, Buchanan thundered, “we stand with …

How Righteousness Killed the World Economy  —  Stop me if you've heard this before: The world economy appears to be stumbling.  For a while, things seemed to be looking up, and there was talk about green shoots of recovery.  But now growth is stalling, and the specter of deflation looms.

Turkey Says No Deal Yet on U.S. Use of Bases in ISIS Fight  —  ISTANBUL — A day after American officials said Turkey had agreed to allow its air bases for operations against the Islamic State, which they described as a deal that represented a breakthrough in tense negotiations …

Braced for Voter Fraud in Colorado  —  Perhaps the most hard-fought Senate race this year will be Colorado's showdown between Democratic senator Mark Udall and Republican congressman Cory Gardner.  The RealClearPolitics average of polls in the race shows Gardner holding a lead of 1.3 percentage points.

Hillary Clinton heckled by man with a bullhorn  —  Washington (CNN) — A man with a bullhorn interrupted Hillary Clinton on Sunday during a speech she was giving in San Diego.  —  The heckler, sporting a suit and tie, sounded a loud alarm with the bullhorn and began shouting at the former Secretary …

Debate Night in Kentucky Gives Grimes Chance to Shake Things Up  —  Good Columbus Day morning from Washington, where the focus is on a prime-time Kentucky debate, four too-close-to-call governors' races, and the intensifying battle for control of the Senate, where Republicans have a 64 percent chance of taking the majority.

Dems: Don't trust the polls  —  Democrats have a new message in the 2014 race for the Senate: Don't trust the polls.  —  The party is stoking skepticism in the final stretch of the midterm campaign, providing a mirror image of conservative complaints in 2012 about “skewed” …