Thrust into the national spotlight on the 2008 presidential campaign trail, the case of killer Daniel Tavares is a horrific tale that reaches back well over a decade.1991 - Tavares pleads guilty to stabbing his mother to death in their Somerset home, and is sentenced to 17- to 20 years.

April 2006 - Kathe Tuttman of Andover is nominated to the state Superior Court by then-Gov. Mitt Romney.

June 11, 2007 - Tavares, 41, completes sentence with year off for good behavior but charges of assaulting prison guards keep him incarcerated on $50,000 bail.

July 16, 2007 - Judge Tuttman grants Tavares’ bail appeal and releases him on personal recognizance, even after Worcester prosecutors warned of his violent history and the assault charges.

July 23, 2007 - Tavares defaults on a court date after fleeing to Washington state.

Nov. 17, 2007 - Tavares is accused of murdering Beverly Mauck, 28, and Brian Mauck, 30, in their home in rural Graham, Wash., reportedly after an argument over $50.

Friday - Romney calls for the judge to resign, with his GOP presidential campaign spokesman citing a “systematic failure” in the case “starting with the judge.”

The Boston Herald

Tuttman is a Democrat who Romney appointed because he wanted “diversity” on the Massachusetts courts. Is this the man we want choosing our next Supreme Court justice?

Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, who helped broker a bipartisan immigration bill that went down to defeat this year despite President Bush’s support for it, will run to replace Lott as the Republicans’ vote-counting whip, said spokesman Ryan Patmintra.

While some might like to think that one of the freshman, like Coburn or DeMint, would be better for the position, the Senate is an old boys network. Some will cry foul over Kyl’s recent statements on immigration, but over his time in the Senate he has established himself as a pretty darn reliable conservative on everything from limited government to Supreme Court nominations. If he gets a challenger, it will probably be from an old bull who thinks he has accumulated enough owed favors to get the position, and that person would almost certainly not be even close to as friendly to the right as Kyl is.