Republicans believed they had no shot at this seat when former US Senator Scott Brown took a pass. But a surprise run by a moderate Republicans and former SEAL has made the race close. Three recent polls have the GOP nominee Gabriel Gomez within single digits and double-digit favorability despite below average name recognition. Could the Massachusetts voters be ready for a little change once again?

Read: Massachusetts 2013 Special Election Preview

Last week, we released our 2016 Presidential Power Rankings for Republicans. In that list, Marco Rubio led the field, followed by Chris Christie at number two, Rand Paul in third, the rising Ted Cruz in fourth, and Jeb Bush rounding out the top five. (Read the whole list here).

A new Public Policy Poll out today shows a tight race with four of those in a near-tie. Cruz has gained the most from previous polling and comes in 6th with 7%. But at the top of the poll, it's a four-way tie with Marco Rubio (16%), Jeb Bush and Chris Christie (15%) and Rand Paul (14%). If all four run, it would be one heck of an interesting race.

Scandal. Cover-up. Using those words often means you will be dismissed as a kooky conspiracy theorist out to do nothing but destroy a President you disagree with. After 8 months, the evidence became too strong and even the complacent media had to start getting (somewhat) serious. Deception about who was involved with the official story. Testimony of witness intimidation. The reality that the American public was intentionally misled on the involvement of Al-Qaeda, and what was mentioned as but a possibility was disseminated as pure truth. Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked what difference it made whether the attack was plotted by Al-Qaeda or a spontaneous movement brought-on by a YouTube video. Clearly it mattered to the people working in the State Department and the Obama campaign who found it easier to claim the attacks were something they were not and to blame people not involved.

Continue Reading: Questions Persist on Official Benghazi Story

With about two years to go before the presidential primary season gets seriously underway (yes, that close already), it's time to release the first edition of our 2016 power rankings for the Republican side. This list is based on a few criteria. First, how likely are the candidates to run? Mitt Romney and Condi Rice are not on the list since they could do fine in polls but will most certainly not run. Some candidates have given clear signals that they intend to run by intentionally raising their national profile and perfecting their messaging. These moves have also helped these particular candidates' standing in the polls, which also helped their ranking. Some on the list do not poll well and have not signaled an intent to run, but have better than even chances to run and if they did could make a huge splash.

Read: 2016 Republican Presidential Power Rankings