The exchange went like this:

"I am an old man. And I will tell you how old I am. There's a certain distinguished United States senator sitting up there who I swore in as a lawyer in the city of Pittsburgh over 40 years ago," Aldisert said, pointing at the dais where the senators sat. "And that's Orrin Hatch."

Hatch pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed his eyes.

Aldisert continued: "And I will also say that I presided over the first jury trial that he ever tried. And he won the case."

"Oh, that's sweet, Orrin," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

Hatch said he was glad the judge included the court case because his colleagues didn't believe it.

"I never knew you won one," Leahy chimed in, drawing laughter from the spectators.

New slogans

The blogger SLCSpin has created a bumper sticker about Utah's congressional delegation. It features face sketches, in this order, of Cannon, Bishop, Hatch, Bennett and Matheson with the caption: duck, duck, duck, duck, goose.

The bumper sticker comes after Bob Aagard's The World According to Me blog posted his new T-shirt for sale. It simply says, "Don't vote for Orrin."

Hatch on '24'

Hatch is a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, but apparently it's not only real-life terrorists who capture his interest.

While taping an interview for CNN recently, Hatch asked a staffer to make sure to record that night's airing of "24," the Fox show featuring uber-agent Jack Bauer foiling improbable terrorist attacks in semi-real-time. Hatch got hooked on the show after receiving the first season DVD as a gift.

Secretary Matheson

Had the 1988 presidential election turned out differently, the late Utah Gov. Scott Matheson would have been elevated to one of the top posts in the federal government.

Unsuccessful presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, a Democrat from Massachusetts, told us recently that had he been elected he would have put Democrat Matheson on his Cabinet.

"I had enormous respect for him," Dukakis said, noting he wasn't sure what spot to put Matheson in. "That guy could have done anything."

Of course it never became a reality, with George H.W. Bush trouncing Dukakis in the 1988 election.

Romney's fundraising

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's Commonwealth PAC raised $50,000 in the past six months of 2005, for a total of $59,220 in fundraising for the year, according to financial reports. Most of Romney's money comes from Massachusetts, but second on the list is Utah, thanks to three generous donors, according to figures compiled by PoliticalMoneyline.com.

The three Romney donors are Kem Gardner of the Boyer Co.; Ladd Christensen, CEO of IncuHub.com; and James Swartz, CEO of Accel Partners. Each contributed $5,000 to Romney's PAC.

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Robert Gehrke and Thomas Burr cover the nation's capital for The Salt Lake Tribune.