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Politico.com…
Who’s your date?
Pairing off for the State of the Union
By Meredith Shiner
Lawmakers on the Hill haven’t quite broken out the corsages — yet — but
the high school level drama is on as senators and representatives
scramble to find suitable across-the-aisle seating partners for
Tuesday’s State of the Union address.
The very public rollout of odd-couple pairings this week, from lofty
press releases to tweets to public displays of bipartisan affection on
national TV — where Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Tom Coburn
(R-Okla.) kicked off a Capitol craze on “Meet the Press” last Sunday by
announcing their intentions to sit together — has turned conventional
State of the Union wisdom on its head.
A night typically marked by highly symbolic partisan coordination, from
seating charts to dramatic, orchestrated applause for the president,
now has become about the buildup: Which Democrat will sit with which
Republican on which side of the aisle? And now that the room is all
mixed, will it become as awkward as a high school dance where no one
knows exactly what to do when sitting next to a new partner?
Perhaps the hubbub is not quite what Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) had in
mind when he sent an open letter to Congress asking his colleagues to
break tradition this year because of the Jan. 8 shootings at a
constituent event for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.). Approximately
60 lawmakers have signed onto Udall’s letter.
But this is Congress, and if lawmakers weren’t trying to get a few
minutes of attention, even for the noblest of causes, it wouldn’t be
right.
And no pair symbolizes the uniqueness of this arrangement better than
Democrat Anthony Weiner and Republican Pete King, whose wife, in
suggesting the two sit together, called them the “biggest loudmouths”
in the House.
Read more at Redstate
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