CNN

Discussion has begun on the 2012 primary calendar.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Representatives from some of the top 2008 GOP presidential campaigns gathered in Washington, D.C. Thursday to urge the Republican National Committee to lock in a 2012 primary calendar as early as possible to avoid the confusion that dogged the early stages of last year's nomination contest. One campaign manager took his recommendations a step further and suggested ending the traditional first-in-the-nation statuses of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

An RNC panel headed by party chairman Michael Steele invited the campaigns to share their views as it considers numerous possible changes to the process the party will use to nominate a candidate to challenge President Barack Obama in 2012.

Mike DuHaime, the 2008 campaign manager for former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, told the panel that the three early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina should continue to hold contests early in the process, but not necessarily as the first three contests.

"I believe there needs to be greater decision-making authority given to states beyond the early states," said DuHaime, referring to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. "If you win two out of three states, those have been our nominees. With that, 47 other states don't have the same say."

"I think that is ultimately not in the best interests of the party," he added.

DuHaime went on to say that the early phase of the nomination calendar should be more geographically and ethnically diverse and that doing so could make the party more competitive in general elections.
DuHaime's candidate did not campaign heavily in the early states and instead focused his time and energy on later contests.

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Sen. Robert Byrd will become the longest-serving member of Congress Wednesday.

Washington (CNN) – Sen. Robert Byrd will become the longest-serving member of Congress Wednesday, having logged a staggering 20,774 days representing his home state of West Virginia in either the U.S. House or Senate.

Most of Byrd's tenure in federal office has been in the U.S. Senate, where he will have served 18,583 days, from January 3, 1959, through Wednesday. He became that body's longest-serving member in June 2006, surpassing the record previously held by the late Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina.

The West Virginia Democrat also served a total of 2,191 days, from January 3, 1953, to January 3, 1959, in the House of Representatives

The late Carl Hayden, D-Arizona, held the previous record for longest total congressional service. Hayden served in the House and the Senate for a total 20,773 days, from February 12, 1912, to January 3, 1969.

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(CNN) - With Republican victories in the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races, two decades-long streaks continue: Since 1989, the party holding the White House has gone on to lose both the gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey. The streak goes back even further in Virginia, where the party holding the White House has gone to lose the gubernatorial race since 1977.

Corzine nearly exhausts self-funded campaign war chest.

(CNN) – Despite pouring millions into his re-election bid from his personal fortune, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine finds himself entering the final stretch before Election Day with significantly less money in his campaign warchest than his publicly financed Republican opponent.

According to documents released Tuesday by the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, the Democratic incumbent had only $412,410 in his general election campaign account as of October 20, despite having kicked in $22.6 million from personal funds. Corzine's chief opponent, Republican Chris Christie, had $2.9 million in available cash to spend on the final days of the campaign.

Unlike Corzine, both Christie and independent candidate Chris Daggett participated in the state's public matching funds program, designed in part to reduce a candidate's need to raise campaign funds. Christie received the maximum $7.3 million in public funds and raised an additional $4.4 million from contributors for a total of $11.7 million raised for the general election. Daggett raised a total of $1.3 million for the general election, almost $727,000 of which came from public funding.

Corzine's spending to date has more than doubled that of Christie and Daggett combined. The governor has spent $23.6 million since winning the Democratic nomination for a second term, while Christie has spent $8.8 million in the same period. Daggett has spent $1.2 million.

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Castle will make a run for Senate.

WASHINGTON (CNN) –  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's campaign debt from her failed 2008 presidential bid has fallen below the $1 million-mark for the first time since she launched her candidacy almost three years ago, according to documents filed Thursday with the Federal Election Commission.

Clinton's campaign reported having $2 million in the bank as of September 30, more than enough to pay off the $995,500 it carried in unpaid bills.

The sole remaining creditor is the political consulting firm Penn, Schoen & Berland, which at the start of the year had been owed $5.4 million. The campaign paid the firm over $500,000 on September 30, the last day of the 3rd quarter reporting period.

Clinton's debt reached its peak in June 2008 shortly after the former New York senator suspended her campaign. At that point, her presidential committee owed $12 million to almost 500 creditors and $13.2 million to the candidate herself, who dipped into her personal funds to help finance her campaign. Campaign finance laws forced Clinton to forgive the amount she loaned her committee because she was not able to repay the funds by the required deadline.

The campaign raised only $9,300 in contributions from July through September but generated an additional $172,000 from both bank interest and from the rental of its campaign mailing lists to other organizations.

A federal law known as the "Hatch Act" prohibits Secretary Clinton and other federal government employees from personally soliciting or accepting political contributions. The law does allow others to raise funds on Clinton's behalf, without her direct involvement.

Obama speech continues tradition started by Adams, Wilson.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – President Obama's speech on health care reform Wednesday night to a joint session of Congress continues a long tradition of presidents addressing Congress outside of the more familiar setting of a State of the Union address or annual message.

George Washington began the tradition of addressing Congress in person in the form of an annual speech, satisfying the constitutional requirement that the president brief Congress on "from time to time" on "the state of the union." However, it was Washington's successor, John Adams, who was the first president to address a joint session of Congress on a specific topic outside of the regularly scheduled annual message.

Adams' first speech to Congress was an address on relations with France, delivered on May 16, 1797, just over two months after his inauguration. He would deliver his first annual message in November of that year. After Adams, Thomas Jefferson discontinued the practice of addressing Congress in person, saying the ceremony too closely resembled a king addressing his subjects.

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Friday he will vote against the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will vote against the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, his office announced Friday, marking the first time the Kentucky Republican has ever opposed a nominee to the high court.

"Judge Sotomayor's record of written statements suggests an alarming lack of respect for the notion of equal justice, and therefore, in my view, an insufficient willingness to abide by the judicial oath," he said in a written statement. "This is particularly important when considering someone for the Supreme Court since, if she were confirmed, there would be no higher court to deter or prevent her from injecting into the law the various disconcerting principles that recur throughout her public statements. For that reason, I will oppose her nomination."

McConnell, who also opposed Sotomayor's 1998 appellate court nomination, has previously voted to confirm every Supreme Court nominee since joining the senate in 1985, including Clinton appointees Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer.

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Hillary Clinton's failed presidential bid against Barack Obama is now almost out of debt, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Hillary Clinton is almost debt-free from her failed bid for the presidency.

Exactly one year after announcing it was a staggering $25.2 million in debt, her campaign reported Wednesday carrying its smallest amount of unpaid campaign bills since the former New York senator and current U.S. Secretary of State first began her presidential bid in early 2007.

As of June 30, Clinton's campaign organization owed $1.5 million in unpaid bills and had $2.5 million in the bank, according to a new disclosure report filed with the Federal Election Commission. Previously, the smallest amount of debt the campaign had reported was $1.6 million in March 2007, roughly two months after Clinton launched her presidential bid. As the race for the Democratic nomination grew more competitive, the campaign's debt grew steadily and reached its peak on June 30, 2008, just three weeks after Clinton suspended her campaign.

At that point, Clinton's campaign owed $12 million to almost 500 individual creditors and an additional $13.2 million to the candidate herself, who used her own money to help keep her operation afloat. Campaign finance laws forced Clinton to forgive the amount she loaned her committee because she was not able to repay the funds by the required deadline.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) – When Al Franken is officially sworn in Tuesday as the junior senator from Minnesota, he will become the 60th Democratic member of the U.S. Senate and, in theory, give his party its first filibuster-proof majority in more than 30 years.

The last time any party had a filibuster-proof majority in the U.S. Senate was during the 95th Congress from 1977 to 1979, when Democrats held 62 seats. The Senate's filibuster rule had just changed two years earlier, when the threshold needed to invoke cloture, or to end debate, was lowered from a two-thirds majority of senators present and voting to three-fifths of the total senate membership, which translates to 60 votes of the 100-member body. At the time of the rule change in 1975, the Democratic caucus had 61 votes.

However, reaching the 60-member mark with Franken's swearing-in does not automatically guarantee Democrats the ability to end GOP-driven filibusters.

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White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's salary has maxed out.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Top-level staff members of the Obama White House earn the same amount as their predecessors in the Bush administration, according to a report submitted to Congress Wednesday. The president announced the pay freeze on his first full day in office for White House employees earning more than $100,000.

The report, which a 1994 law requires be submitted annually to Senate and House oversight committees, shows 487 employees on the White House personnel list. Of those, 455 are employed directly by the White House, while an additional 32 are so-called "detailees" on loan from other federal agencies.

Among the actual employees, 122 staffers earn more than $100,000 annually, compared to 125 employees in the final year of the Bush administration. Twenty-two Obama White House staffers make the top possible salary of $172,200, compared to 18 employees who made that amount in the Bush White House.

View list of staffers making over $100,000

Obama White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and press secretary Robert Gibbs both make the top amount, as did their Bush counterparts Joshua Bolten and Dana Perino. Other top Obama aides who earn the maximum salary are senior adviser David Axelrod, White House Counsel Gregory Craig, communications director Anita Dunn, speechwriting director Jonathan Favreau, senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, National Security Adviser James Jones, and National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers.

The highest-paid White House staff member is Public Health Policy Director David Marcozzi, who earns $192,934. However, as a detailee from the Department of Health and Human Services, his salary is not paid directly by the White House.

Complete list published by the White House (PDF)

(CNN) - The Minnesota Supreme Court's decision Tuesday declaring Democrat Al Franken as the winner of that state's long-disputed U.S. Senate race ends a prolonged legal and political drama exactly 34 weeks, or 238 days, after the election was held in November 2008.

At the time the court released its ruling, the state's second U.S. Senate seat had gone unfilled since Republican Norm Coleman's term ended on January 3, 2009, for a total of 178 days. The seat will remain unfilled for several more days until Franken officially takes the oath of office next week, when Congress returns from the July 4 recess.

This is the longest a U.S. Senate seat has gone unfilled since 1975 and the fourth-longest period a Senate seat has gone unfilled since the direct election of senators began in 1913. Illinois holds the record for the longest unfilled senate seat, when it took two years to replace a senator who had died in office.

The longest vacancy due to a contested election was in 1975 in New Hampshire. That election was held in November 1974 but was not fully resolved for 10 months. After a prolonged and inconclusive recount, the seat was officially declared vacant on August 8, 1975, at which point a temporary senator was appointed to fill the seat. A special election was held on September 16, 1975, and the winner took office on September 18, 1975.

A list of the longest Senate seat vacancies is after the jump

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WASHINGTON (CNN) – Next week Al Franken comes to the nation's capital to take his seat as his state's junior U.S. senator. So where does the Minnesota Democrat stand on some of the major issues the Senate will be grappling with this year?

Here's a look:

HEALTH CARE REFORM

According to his senate campaign, Franken supports universal health care. He backs requiring states to cover their citizens, with the federal government providing the necessary funding. Franken supports requiring states to cover all children up to 18 with Medicare-style single payer system health care.

CLEAN ENERGY

Franken supports an "Apollo project" on renewable energy, which calls for a comprehensive economic investment strategy to build a clean energy economy and cut energy bills for American families and businesses. He supports additional research and funding for alternative energy sources such as corn, soy, wind and solar power. Franken also backs increased CAFE standards for vehicles and calls for additional funding, research for energy efficiency programs and light rail.

IMMIGRATION

Franken supports "comprehensive immigration reform," which includes creating a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who meet certain requirements. He backs stronger fines and incarceration for employers who hire undocumented workers. Franken calls for tamper-proof worker identification cards. Franken opposes mass deportation of illegal immigrants and supports guest worker programs for seasonal jobs. He wants to work with Mexico to improve its economic conditions to reduce incentive for illegal immigrants to come to the United States.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) – It was one of the most fascinating White House photo ops since President Richard Nixon met Elvis.

At a White House ceremony on May 14, 1984, President Ronald Reagan awarded Michael Jackson with the Presidential Public Safety Communication Award for allowing the song "Beat It" to be used in a public service campaign against teen drinking and driving.

Reagan's comments that day were peppered with Michael Jackson song references:

"Well, isn't this a thriller? . . . I know why you're here, and with good reason – to see one of the most talented, most popular, and most exciting superstars in the music world today – Michael Jackson. And Michael, welcome to the White House," said Reagan.

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) - Although several prominent conservatives such as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and talk show host Rush Limbaugh have been sharply critical of Sonia Sotomayor and her nomination to the Supreme Court, President Obama's first high court pick has won the support of at least one high-profile conservative legal figure: Kenneth Starr, the former federal judge who led the investigation that ultimately lead to the impeachment and trial of President Bill Clinton.

"I'm very much an admirer of her, and I'm supporting the nomination," Starr said Thursday at a law and journalism conference at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. "I think that's a very wise and sound nomination of our president."

Starr, the former independent counsel for the Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky investigations of the 1990s, told reporters after the event that he has voiced his support to at least two U.S. senators, whom he declined to name, but has not been asked to write an official letter of endorsement.

He also addressed comments that Sotomayor made in a 2001 speech at the University of California at Berkeley, in which she said, "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

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In 2005, Sotomayor said that 'policy is made' in the U.S. Court of Appeals.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Critics of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor often cite a comment the federal judge made in 2005 that the U.S. Court of Appeals, where she has served since 1998, "is where policy is made."

Sotomayor made the statement at the Duke University School of Law during a panel discussion with other federal judges on judicial clerkships. The purpose of the event was to encourage the law students in attendance to pursue judicial clerkships during their legal careers. According to the panel moderator, the judges would be asked to describe "what it is their clerks do, what the relationship between the judge and the clerk is like, … different kinds of clerkships, maybe at the trial court level and at the court of appeals level, how those differ and maybe a little bit about the selection process."

The "policy is made" comment came near the end of the 51-minute discussion, when a student asked the panel to describe the differences between district court clerkships and those at the appeals court level, also known as the circuit court level.

A small portion of the student's question was inaudible, and those sections are marked in brackets. Also serving on the panel with Sotomayor were Judges Carlos Lucero and Robert Henry, both from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. A video of the full panel discussion, held February 25, 2005, can be seen on the Duke University School of Law Web site.

(The full text and time codes of the exchange are provided after the jump)
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Sonia Sotomayor spoke to the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 2001.

(CNN) - Since President Obama named Sonia Sotomayor Tuesday as his pick for the Supreme Court, much attention has been given to a 2001 speech the federal appeals court judge gave at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law.

One line in particular from that address has sparked sharp reactions from critics: "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

The following is a complete text of the speech, which was delivered on October 26, 2001, at a legal symposium titled "Raising the Bar: Latino and Latina Presence in the Judiciary and the Struggle for Representation." The event was co-sponsored by the La Raza Law Journal, the Berkeley La Raza Law Students Association, the Boalt Hall Center for Social Justice, and the Center for Latino Policy Research. The speech, "A Latina Judge's Voice," was also published in the La Raza Law Journal in 2002.

(Complete text of speech after the jump)
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Sonia Sotomayor in 1997 wrote about judicial activism.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor shared her views on judicial activism with members of the Senate during her two previous federal court confirmation hearings in 1992 and 1997.

A Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire from 1997 asked the judge to "discuss your views" in writing on judicial activism.

Her complete response to that question is available after the jump:
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WASHINGTON (CNN) – During Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's 17 years as a federal judge, the U.S. Supreme Court has reviewed her decisions on at least eight occasions. CNN has reviewed those cases and has summarized each in a series of posts. The names and citations reflect the cases as they were known when they first came before Sotomayor.

Tasini vs. New York Times, et al (1997), 972 F. Supp. 804: As a district court judge in 1997, Sotomayor heard a case brought by a group of freelance journalists who asserted that various news organizations, including the New York Times, violated copyright laws by reproducing the freelancers' work on electronic databases and archives such as "Lexis/Nexis" without first obtaining their permission. Sotomayor ruled against the freelancers and said that publishers were within their rights as outlined by the 1976 Copyright Act. The appellate court reversed Sotomayor's decision, siding with the freelancers, and the Supreme Court upheld the appellate decision (therefore rejecting Sotomayor's original ruling). Justices Stevens and Breyer dissented, taking Sotomayor's position.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - During Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's 17 years as a federal judge, the U.S. Supreme Court has reviewed her decisions on at least eight occasions. CNN has reviewed those cases and has summarized each in a series of posts. The names and citations reflect the cases as they were known when they first came before Sotomayor.

Malesko v. Correctional Services Corp. (2000), 299 F.3d 374: Sotomayor, writing for the court in 2000, supported the right of an individual to sue a private corporation working on behalf of the federal government for alleged violations of that individual's constitutional rights. Reversing a lower court decision, Sotomayor found that an existing law, known as "Bivens" - which allows suits against individuals working for the federal government for constitutional rights violations - could be applied to the case of a former prisoner seeking to sue the private company operating the federal halfway house facility in which he resided. The Supreme Court reversed Sotomayor's ruling in a 5-4 decision, saying that the Bivens law could not be expanded to cover private entities working on behalf of the federal government. Justices Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer dissented, siding with Sotomayor's original ruling.