McConnell: ‘Going to Sit Where I Usually Sit’ for State of the Union

By Mary Lu Carnevale

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell isn’t looking for a date for Tuesday night’s State of the Union address.

While other lawmakers are firming up plans to sit next to members of the opposite party, the Kentucky Republican said during an appearance on Fox News Sunday that he’s “going to sit where I usually sit” – at the Republicans’ leadership table – but others are welcome to sit wherever and with whomever they want.

Mr. McConnell suggested there isn’t much significance in scrapping the traditional seating –Democrats on one side of the aisle and Republicans on the other — for the president’s address, an idea many lawmakers have embraced amid calls for greater civility in the wake of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D., Ariz.).

“More important than the appearance of sitting together is what we do together,” Mr. McConnell said. “And the American people are more interested in actual accomplishments on a bipartisan basis here in the next six to nine months than they are the seating arrangement at the State of the Union.”

The next guest on Fox News Sunday, Sen. Dick Durbin (R., Ill.), the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, said he’s sitting with his new Illinois colleague, Republican Sen. Mark Kirk. “I’m bringing the popcorn; he’s bringing a Coke with two straws,” he joked. He added: “We haven’t decided which side we’ll sit on, but we are going to sit together.”