Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) takes to the twittersphere to share his thoughts on Sotomayor's "empathy":

OrrinHatch The question is not whether, as a human being, Judge Sotomayor has empathy, but what, as a judge, she does with it.

She'll have a chance to answer him directly pretty soon. Sotomayor will be making the rounds on Capitol Hill this week to introduce herself.

No sooner did Sen. Claire McCaskill (M-Mo.) finish meeting with the St. Louis Cardinals than she switched sports to tweet her concern about her hometown football team:

clairecmc I signed @bobfescoe petition to keep Rams in St Louis. I'm worried, http://www.petitiononline.c...

Maybe they'll go back to LA....again....

Today's St. Louis Cardinals game may not start until 8:15 tonight, but that didn't stop Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) from heading to the ballpark this morning.

McCaskill headed over to Busch Stadium for some meeting preceding next month's MLB All-Star game in the Gateway City, apparently making her way down to the locker room, as well.

McCaskill tweeted Monday:

Photo: Just finished meeting with Cardinals front office on the Village and All Star game. Quick tour of... http://tumblr.com/xbx1x85la

She also posted this picture on her blog of Cardinals' first baseman Albert Pujols's locker:

Include Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.) on lists of those politicians who've now announced their bids for higher office on their Twitter page.

While Davis's long-expected formal announcement that he's running for governor of Alabama wasn't exclusive to his Twitter page, he joins a growing list of lawmakers and politicians who've used the microblogging service to supplement and amplify their announcements.

Davis tweeted Monday:

Today I formally announce my campaign to be the next Governor of AL. It all starts today - join me on this journey http://tinyurl.com/l9vgr4

While Davis's tweets have been generally staid, he's been using it as a bit of a campaign diary, to let supporters to know about events, locations, and interviews as he does them. Look for his new media operation to stay active as he continues his gubernatorial bid over the next year and a half.

Hashtags for Twitter posts are one of the most effective ways to assemble a series of tweets on a central subject, making them easily searchable.

Rep. Judy Biggert's (R-Ill.) office is joining a series of climate change activists and journalists in the use of one particular tag for tweets on the American Clean Energy and Security bill before Congress.

Biggert's staff will be live-tweeting a panel discussion of that bill today, using the hashtag #ACES to reach out to those fellow Twitter users following the legislation.

Biggert tweeted Monday:

Reminder, staff will be live-tweeting this AM's cap-and-trade/#ACES be sure to follow. Seven panelists from all sides of the issue

Among those closely following those tweets will be a small cadre of leading climate change tweeters (including Meghan McNamara, an alumna of The Hill) profiled recently by the Phoenix Sun.

Twitter users can search for "#ACES" during today's hearings and as the bill progresses for analysis and coverage of the bill.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is practicing his comedy routine this afternoon, evidently.

Issa tweeted Sunday:

Heading on Fox News at 4 p.m. Ill be discussing Obama's Supreme choice (the judge, not Diana Ross!) #tweetcongress #hhrs #sgp #tcot

Rehabilitating Bush - Dana Perino
Tiller killer on the run - Ana Marie Cox (Air America)
Met with Sandy Froman - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R)
GOP filibuster over Sotomayor? - George Stephanopoulos
Ladies and gents, P.J. O'Rourke - Todd Herman (RNC)
Richard Wolfe on 'Today' tomorrow - David Gregory (NBC)
Glad Sessions distanced himself - Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.)
Death Star-grade laser - David Sirota
Wishing Dan Gelber good luck - Marco Rubio
No visa for N. Korea trial - Nicholas Kristof (NYTimes)

Hockey fever is sweeping the nation, apparently.

After Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) tweeted about hurting his back on the ice, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) cheered on her state's Alaska Aces in a tweet this Sunday:

Keepin' the dream alive! Thank you AK Aces! OT win last night brings Kelly Cup game 6 home Thurs. Bet w/SC Gov is alive too. Save Our Salmon

Palin's tweet also alludes to a bet with South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R), whose South Carolina Stingrays are facing off against the Aces for the Kelly Cup. The Stingrays lead the series 3-2.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), meanwhile, is still focused on baseball and golf.

Though his tweet may be happy-go-lucky on its face, SEIU President Andy Stern's tweet Sunday all but certainly tweaked some lawmakers working on crafting healthcare reform.

Stern tweeted Sunday:

Beautiful Sunday. 8 weeks to health care bill passage!

We wonder if Stern will be so happy-go-lucky if that 8-week deadline comes and goes...