Bipartisan 'date night' at Obama speech
Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-Brooklyn (Jan. 6, 2011) Credit: AP
WASHINGTON - It's bipartisan "date night" for some New York lawmakers attending President Barack Obama's State of the Union Tuesday night.
Last year, an adamant Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) and screaming Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn) made headlines with a late-night debate. But Tuesday night they'll sit together.
Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) said he'll sit with a rival from the Congressional Baseball Game, Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.).
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) will sit with Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.).
And Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) will sit by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), an obstetrician and longtime opponent of pork-barrel federal spending.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) will be by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a potential presidential candidate in 2012.
Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington), part of an escort committee that accompanies the president in and out of the House chamber, will be in bipartisan seating, an aide said.
