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Washington • Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, sat with a Democrat, and Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, settled in next to a Republican on Tuesday as part of an effort to break up the partisan seating chart and strengthen the across-the-aisle fellowship during the State of the Union speech.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, even made a mad dash — twice — to shake President Barack Obama's hand.
The question remaining: Will the much-hyped bipartisan seating arrangement for Tuesday's speech help shatter the over-the-top, caustic air that permeates Washington?
Answer: To be determined.
Even those participating in Tuesday's big effort to buddy up with a member of the opposing party don't expect that because they warmed the bench together that bills will now pass with the singing of "Kumbaya" and a hug. But they hope it helps.
"Time will tell, and I don't think we should read huge change into the events of tonight," said Matheson, who invited Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., to the Democratic side of the aisle Tuesday. "On the other hand, I think the whole mood in the room was very different from any other State of the Union I've ever attended. ... I felt like it was an adultlike crowd that reacted in a mature way."
As the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, Hatch planted himself Tuesday next to the panel's chairman, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., sat on Hatch's left.
But asked whether that means Hatch will agree more with the both of them, Hatch said no.
"Look, Democrats know that we feel deeply about a lot of these things, and they feel deeply, too," Hatch said, noting that he thinks it's a nice thing to diversify the seating arrangements.
The sit-by-thine-enemy movement hadn't cajoled much change, even in the run up to the big event. Voting on a measure to reduce federal spending Tuesday, the House broke largely along partisan lines, with only 17 Democrats, including Matheson, joining Republicans to pass the resolution.
Exhibit No. 2: Earlier Tuesday, Hatch took the Senate floor in condemnation of what he termed the out-of-control spending of the Obama administration and Democrats, and he didn't mince words.
"President Obama seems to have finally recognized the frustration and anger of the American people over our federal fiscal policy," Hatch said. "Recognizing that you have a problem is an important first step."
Of course, that was before members of the House and Senate crossed the imaginary moat separating the liberals and progressives.
"Oh, yeah, don't you know, the world is going to be totally different now," joked Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, who went stag to the speech and said that while it was a nice gesture to sit in a bipartisan pattern, he didn't feel it was a high priority.
"It's more important to re-arrange our priorities than rearrange our seating," Bishop said.
Ron Bonjean, a Washington Republican strategist, said he sees Tuesday's seating chart shake-up as a good step, but he predicts it will take a long time to calm the partisan waters.
"The American people support members of Congress sitting together, but what really means something to them is reaching bipartisan solutions to American problems," Bonjean said.
Maybe sitting closer to one another will spark that effort, Bonjean added.
Rich Hanley, director of graduate journalism programs at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn., said there would be a flood of stories portraying the bipartisan seating plan as a "Coke commercial," but that like those ads, those moments last only so long.
"This is as empty a gesture as one could make to the American people," he said. "It's all part of the staged setting" of the annual address.