Manchester, N.H.—How the Mighty Have Fallen, Five Days in a Row. According to the Suffolk/7News tracking poll, GOP hopeful Mitt Romney’s numbers have been on a steady decrease over the past week. He now holds only 33 percent in surveys conducted on Saturday and Sunday, down from 41 percent less then…

MANCHESTER, N.H. — A week after his game-changing surge in Iowa, former Senator Rick Santorum ended his 31 city blitz at Jillians, a billiards bar in downtown Manchester. Supporters and Independents alike came out in throngs to hear the dark horse candidate make his closing arguments for their nomination. His…

With a filibuster-proof 60 Democratic seats in the Senate, Judge Sonia Sotomayor has nothing to worry about. Unless the senators discover something completely unexpected and horrifying about her past, she will be the next Supreme Court justice. And yet she still faces heated opposition and rhetoric from the Republican minority.
How did Supreme Court confirmation battles become so contentious? And why do some nominees face loads of opposition while others sail through? TRNS Legal Affairs Correspondent Matthew S. Schwartz interviews various Supreme Court experts to try to figure out how things got quite so heated.
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Supreme Court nominations have become increasingly contentious in recent years. It seems that no matter how qualified a nominee is, he or she is going to face a passionate confirmation battle. Supreme Court expert Tom Goldstein joins TRNS Legal Affairs Correspondent Matthew S. Schwartz to discuss what he calls the “poisonous” atmosphere of Court nominations. Goldstein, a partner with Akin Gump, is a Supreme Court litigator, lecturer at Harvard and Stanford law schools, and founder of SCOTUSblog, a popular Web site focused on Supreme Court issues.
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By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service
Correspondent Michael Ruhl’s investigative report into the recent pandemic of piracy off of the Horn of Africa. The report focuses on why the piracy is taking place and what can be done to stop it. It includes perspectives from Somali Ambassador-at-large Abdi Awallah Jama, George Mason University Political Science Professor Hazel McFerson, Maersk-Alabama Captain Richard Phillips, and CENTCOM Commander General David Petraeus. (07:30)

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By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service
Correspondent Michael Ruhl reports on the security and humanitarian crisis presently plaguing Somalia. Ruhl interviews Somalia’s Ambassador-At-Large to the U.S., Abdi Awaleh Jama, and also speaks with Joel Carny from Refugees International.
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Andrew Lindner, Professor of Sociology at Concordia College in Minnesota, explains how lifting the ban on photographing military coffins could change public opinion about the war, as it did in the Vietnam era. However, Lindner believes it is more likely to change public opinion on Afghanistan than Iraq. (01:05)

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By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service
Correspondent Michael Ruhl reports on the recent release of the unemployment statistics for March.
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House Republicans have felt the sting of Partisanship during the passing of the Economic Stimulus Package. Congressmen Kevin Brady (R-TX) and Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) speak about how they feel, the relationship between the House and President Obama, and the time frame involved in passing the legislation. Representative Chaffetz said that although Democrats won the election, he “was elected too”, and his constituents in Utah should have a stake in deciding on the package. (02:45)
By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

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Michael Ruhl interviews Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH) about the concerns they have of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel being placed in charge of the 2010 Census, a job normally overseen by the Secretary of Commerce. (03:10)
By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

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