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By ANNA PALMER and KATIE GLUECK for POLITICO – Democrats are publicly rooting for Wendy Davis to turn Texas blue. But privately, many of her supporters are resigned to her losing. And, already, some political operatives are pondering how she can stay politically relevant beyond November. Davis is down by 12 points to opponent Greg Abbott…

An OB/GYN’s Open Letter To George Will About His Rape Column AP Photo / Tom Gannam DR. JEN GUNTER – JUNE 16, 2014, 6:00 AM EDT Dear Mr. Will, I read your recent column on the “supposed campus epidemic of rape, a.k.a. sexual assault” and am somewhat taken aback by your claim that forcing colleges to take a…

Huffington Post – In the scramble to pinpoint the reason for Jill Abramson’s unceremonious ouster from The New York Times earlier this month, pundits floated countless theories about the players involved. Many of them included descriptions of Abramson tinged with sexist undertones. Her colleagues found her “unpopular.” “Unreasonable.” “Pushy.” Despite the media’s eagerness to paint…

(CNN) — Maya Angelou, a renowned poet, novelist and actress whose work defied description under a simple label, has died, her literary agent, Helen Brann, said Wednesday. She died at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Brann said. A professor, singer and dancer, Angelou’s work spans several professions. In 2011, President Barack Obama awarded her…

WASHINGTON (AP) — American women have served and died on the nation’s battlefields from the first. They were nurses and cooks, spies and couriers in the Revolutionary War. Some disguised themselves as men to fight for the Union or the Confederacy. Yet the U.S. military’s official acceptance of women in combat took more than two…

Washington Post – Tuesday’s primary races included a number of high-profile female candidates seeking national or statewide office. Some won: Alison Lundergan Grimes, for example, will now officially face Mitch McConnell in November’s general election for U.S. Senate. Others lost: Chelsea Clinton’s mother-in-law, former Congresswoman Marjorie Margolies, lost her attempt at the Democratic nod for…

New York Times – PHILADELPHIA — The industrial Northeast enjoys a reputation as a cradle of liberalism, a region that voted overwhelmingly for America’s first black president, started the push on same-sex marriage rights and can reliably be found at the forefront of causes for equality. But there is a notable gap: The Democratic Party…