Will Hurricane Irene be the second coming of Hurricane Floyd? FEMA chief Craig Fugate said Tuesday that the projected path and strength of Irene resembles Floyd's track in 1999, when that storm blasted the Bahamas, raked the Eastern seaboard and triggered the third largest evacuation in U.S. history.

The latest computer models show Irene swelling to a Category 3 storm over the Bahamas beginning Wednesday and then turning northward -- presumably away from Florida.

The hurricane season might have started slowly, and Florida has been lucky to avoid storm impacts for several years, but the forecast path for Hurricane Irene shows the dangers of complacency.

Leaving a thrashed Puerto Rico and heading north, Hurricane Irene was powering up Tuesday morning.

A national boomlet keeps building for Marco Rubio, with no encouragement from the Florida senator.

While the Republican presidential contest remains wide open, a consensus is forming for the junior senator as the party's vice presidential candidate, according to an oft-quoted political scientist.
Sabato said Republicans are mindful that their party must at least remain competitive for Hispanic votes if they hope to knock off President Obama.

Is the Senate trying to re-ignite the Cold War?