Gary Fineout

Nelson gave up his quest after days of acrimony and tense recounting leading to a midday Sunday deadline for Florida’s counties to turn in their official results.

U.S. District Judge Mark Walker also rejected a request to extend the deadline later in the day for all of the state’s counties to submit the results of a machine recount.

Virtually every hot-button cultural issue tearing at the nation — including guns, race and the environment — is unfolding in a deeply personal way here.

At least 180,000 were ordered to clear out on Tuesday as Hurricane Michael rapidly picked up steam in the Gulf of Mexico and closed in with winds of 120 mph and a potential storm surge of 13 feet.

The threat of Tropical Storm Isaac left delegates to the Republican National Convention recalibrating Sunday. The GOP postponed most of Monday's lineup, cramming four days of events into three with hopes for a major send-off for Mitt Romney on Thursday.