Nominee

The mother of a Wisconsin soldier who died in Iraq said she was "ecstatic" when Barack Obama mentioned during Friday's presidential debate the bracelet she gave him in honor of her son. Tracy Jopek of Merrill said Sunday she was honored that the Democratic nominee remembered Sgt. Ryan D. Jopek, 20, who was killed in 2006 by a roadside bomb. Jopek acknowledged e-mailing the Obama campaign in February, asking that the candidate not mention her son in speeches or debates. But she said Obama's mention on Friday was appropriate because he was responding after John McCain, the Republican nominee, said a soldier's mother gave him a bracelet.

WE all have our favorite films and performances of the year, but that got us wondering: What are the favorites of some Golden Globes winners and nominees? Robert Downey Jr. (past supporting actor winner for "Ally McBeal," winner as part of the ensemble cast for "Short Cuts" and actor nominee for "Chaplin") " 'The Prestige.' It's like the old film 'The Seven-Per-Cent Solution' -- that Sherlock Holmes movie -- it was so not what you expected.

I can see where it might be a bit rankling, for some, to have an attorney general who had knowingly broken the law. But it's funny how it didn't rankle many of the same senators who complained so loudly about Baird this past week to confirm a Supreme Court nominee who had very possibly perjured himself on national TV. Tell us more about hypocrisy, Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.). Lots, lots more. TONY BIRD Panorama City

Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum acknowledged Monday that they are unlikely to gain the delegates required to be the nominee through the remaining primaries, but said the race to be crowned the GOP presidential nominee would go to the party convention in August. Gingrich agreed with Wolf Blitzer's assertion that it was “impossible” for him to rack up the 1,144 delegates necessary to be the party nominee, but said rival Mitt Romney, while the leader, is “the weakest front-runner in modern times.” “If he can get to 1,144, he's the nominee.

The American Civil Liberties Union broke its tradition of neutrality on Supreme Court nominees today and said it will oppose the elevation of federal appeals Judge Robert H. Bork to the high court. The group warned that the ordinary individual rights of Americans would be threatened by Bork and vowed to wage a nationwide campaign to block the confirmation of President Reagan's nominee to the court.

Re "Gonzales' Fatal Flaw," editorial, July 8 Please check the Constitution again. "Advice and consent" is the job of the U.S. Senate, not The Times editorial board. Can't you at least wait until the president nominates someone before deciding whether the nominee is unsatisfactory? This pre-nomination jockeying between editorialists, special interest groups and politicians does nothing to help the process and only serves to ensure that no matter who is the nominee, the confirmation process will be a contentious one. You are doing nothing to help the process.

Re "Sotomayor is a justice like no other," Aug. 7 In voting against Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court, 31 Republicans elected not only to be obstructionists but to disregard the Constitution. The mandated role of the Senate in judicial nominations is "advice and consent." For a president not to be granted his or her choice for the court, the nominee must generally be shown to be unqualified, to have unsuitable temperament and to be so far out of the mainstream as to be untenable.

The two major parties have held their presidential conventions in California only six times. Republican Conventions: Year: 1956 City: San Francisco Ticket: Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon **** Year: 1964 City: San Francisco Ticket: Barry Goldwater and William E. Miller **** Year: 1996 City: San Diego Ticket: Bob Dole and Jack Kemp (to be selected tonight.) **** Democratic Conventions: Year: 1920 City: San Francisco Ticket: James M. Cox and Franklin D.

Proposed Supreme Court nominee Anthony M. Kennedy called a news conference here Friday and then refused to answer questions, saying he would make statements only to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The announcement dashed expectations that Kennedy might publicly confront questions about his work as a lobbyist for Schenley Industries Inc. in the 1960s and '70s and about his abrupt resignation last month from San Francisco's all-white, all-male Olympic Club.