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• Mark Begich of Alaska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Kay Hagan of North Carolina will face voters in 2014 for the first time since voting for the Affordable Care Act -- also known as "Obamacare" -- three years ago. They aren't apologizing for their vote, and several are pursuing an aggressive strategy: Embrace the law, help voters use it and fix what doesn't work.
• "I don't run from my votes," Begich told The Associated Press. "Politicians who sit around and say, 'That's controversial so I better run from it,' just ask for trouble. Voters may not always agree with you, but they respect people who think about these issues and talk about them."
• That means, Begich said, reminding voters that as a candidate in 2008 he called for prohibiting insurers from denying coverage based on existing health problems, ending lifetime coverage limits and making it easier for workers to leave a job and still have insurance, an option they'll have under new exchanges that consumers can begin using to buy individual policies this fall.
• "There's a lot of good that people will realize as this all comes online," the first-term senator said.
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• ARDMORE, Pa. (AP) -- Phil Mickelson has won four majors. Billy Horschel has won once on the PGA Tour, and that was less than two months ago.
• Mickelson was displaying his usual take-a-chance flair Friday. His round at the U.S. Open was the full package of par saves and makeable birdie putts that all went awry -- until he finally sank one from 20 feet at the 18th, the hardest hole on the course, to tie him with Horschel for the lead seconds after the horn sounded to suspend play for the day.
• Dramatic stuff, Lefty.
• "On 18, when you don't really expect to get one, I put the ball in a good spot and was able to roll one in," Mickelson said.
• Horschel's approach to top of the leaderboard was much more straight-forward. He merely put the ball on the green in regulation 18 times out of 18, a stellar achievement for regular tour event, much less a U.S. Open. His 3-under 67 was the best round of the day, and he and Mickelson had a 1-under 139 total that made them the only players under par nearing the halfway point of the championship.
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