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GOProud, the group behind a conservative boycott of CPAC, is bringing in the real estate mogul to talk to attendees.

In her opening speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Thursday, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) urged Republicans not to neglect social conservatives in 2012.

The Tea Party favorite and rumored 2012 presidential contender said for the party to win back the Senate and the White House next year, it will have to avoid division between fiscal and social conservatives, adding that the GOP has too many times before snatched "defeat from the jaws of victory."

"As important as these distressing economic concerns are, we would be wise to recall that there are other threats that loom as well," Bachmann said, urging the crowd to "not forget that for our conservative coalition to be victorious in 2012, it will take every one of us and then some, pulling together to bring together the three legs of the conservative stool."

Bachmann's comments were notable given the cloud of controversy that still lingers over this year's conference. Several leading conservative groups and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) are boycotting the event thanks to the participation of GOProud, a gay conservative group.

Bachmann appealed for Republicans to bring together fiscal conservatives, national security-minded conservatives and social conservatives ahead of the next cycle.

"We cannot shun each other in 2012," she said. "The structural integrity and the political appeal is not only rooted in this fiscal discipline but the social values and the philosophy of peace through strength."

Bachmann didn't drop any new hints about her 2012 ambitions in her speech, but she did argue that the Tea Party is about more than just fiscal discipline and reducing the deficit, saying while those elements are "vitally important, I strongly disagree that that's all there is."

The Republican used her opening speech to lambaste the Obama administration for driving the nation toward "socialism," and she said repealing the healthcare law is the "driving motivation of my life."

"We have seen President Obama usher in socialism under his watch over the last two years," she said.

The Illinois Supreme Court ruled he meets the city's residency requirement.

A stay by the Illinois Supreme Court keeps Emanuel's name on the ballot until a ruling on his residency.

An appellate court ruled Rahm Emanuel shouldn't be allowed on the mayoral ballot because he doesn't meet residency requirements.

Rahm Emanuel may be able to clinch the Chicago mayor's office without heading to a runoff.

The former White House chief of staff has edged up to 44 percent support in a new Chicago Tribune/WGN poll. He needs to break 50 percent in the Feb. 22 mayoral primary in order to avoid a runoff vote in April.

Former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun was in second with 21 percent of the vote, while former Chicago Board of Education President Gery Chico was in third with 16 percent. (The Tribune has a breakdown of the results here.)

The survey of 708 likely voters was conducted Jan. 15-19 and has a error margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percent.

Emanuel was at 42 percent in another recent survey. His campaign announced on Thursday it had raised $10.6 million as of Dec. 31.

Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has raised a whopping $10.6 million for his bid to be mayor of Chicago, his campaign announced Thursday.

Emanuel also transferred $1.1 million from his congressional campaign to bring his war chest to $11.7 million, his spokesman Ben LaBolt tweeted.

Three of Emanuel's top rivals trail far behind him in fundraising. Former Chicago schools chief Gery Chico announced he has raised $2.5 million, and former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun (D-Ill.) has collected $850,000, according to media reports. City Clerk Miguel del Valle has raised $150,000.

Multiple polls show Emanuel as the front-runner in the nonpartisan Feb. 22 primary. But if no candidate garners over 50 percent of the vote, a runoff will be held in April.

During his time in Congress, when he served as Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman, Emanuel was known for his fundraising prowess.

Under state campaign rules, candidates could receive unlimited donations from individuals before Dec. 31. But after Jan. 1, each donor is limited to $5,000 in contributions, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Emanuel has not skimped when it comes to campaign spending. He is paying $150,000 for a 30-second television spot during Sunday's National Football Conference championship game between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers.

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley said Rahm Emanuel's bid to succeed him stands a better chance without his endorsement.

The former White House chief of staff is considered the favorite to emerge on top in the city's Feb. 22 mayoral primary, but will likely have to advance to an April runoff against his nearest rival.  

"I don't think anyone can anoint anyone," Daley told Bloomberg TV in an interview set to air on Friday. "I think those days are over, because what [the] Chicago people want is they want to be able to judge people, and they want to see how passionate they are for this city, and do they understand the issues?"

Daley announced last September he wouldn't seek a seventh term as mayor. He's since remained quiet about whom in the crowded field he'd pick for a successor.

"The idea that someone can go over and anoint, 'You are my person' — people don't like that," he said. "I mean, they respect me. They know I love this city. But I have no right to say that that person will be the mayor."

Daley was more direct when asked if there should be term limits for mayor of Chicago.

"Definitely no," he said, laughing.

He also praised his brother William Daley, who was recently named to Emanuel's old White House job. "In selecting Bill, I think [President Obama] selected a person that was very disciplined and keeps his focus on jobs and the economy and realizes that the world is competing against us and we have to compete with the world," the mayor said.

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) chided Caroline Kennedy to run for office during an event at the Capitol on Thursday.

Vice President Joe Biden, members of Congress, the Kennedy family and dignitaries such as astronaut Buzz Aldrin gathered in the rotunda to mark the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's inauguration.

"Sadly, this is the first Congress to convene without a Kennedy since the Truman administration," Boehner noted at the opening of his brief remarks.

He paused for a moment and glanced over his shoulder.

"Caroline, there's still time," he said.

Kennedy, who is the daughter of the late president, gave the Republican a smile. She had been mentioned as a possible appointee to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's New York Senate seat in 2009. She met with then-Gov. David Paterson (D), but abruptly withdrew her name from consideration citing "personal reasons."

Paterson subsequently appointed then-Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) to the job. She won election to her first full term in November.

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley offered some advice to the candidates running to succeed him.

It's something he learned from this father, the former mayor Richard J. Daley, and is pertinent to a field of candidates that includes Democratic partisans such as Rahm Emanuel, President Obama's former chief of staff, and former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun.

Mayors, according to Daley, need to be the least partisan elected officials.

"We mayors, as my father taught me, we are the closest to the people," he told the Chicago Sun-Times.

"They can find the mayor. They can't find the governor, they can't find the president, they can't find the county board, congressmen, senators. They can find the mayor."

Daley also told the paper he's considering writing a "little memoir" about his decades in public office.

(h/t NBC Chicago)