Interesting bits about State of the Union speeches

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Hmmmmm, it doesn't say where Bachmann's kiss landed.....
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State of the Union speech doesn't always go according to script

Here's a side of the State of the Union speech you don't get to see on television: Every year, early on the day of the address, lawmakers begin staking out seats along the center aisle of the House chamber. If the need arises to leave for a moment as the hours wear on, they'll drape a suit jacket or a hometown newspaper over the back of the chair to hold claim to that precious bit of real estate.

The goal of all that waiting is a presidential handshake, maybe an autograph on a copy of the speech - and a fleeting moment of television exposure before an audience that last year was nearly half the size of the Super Bowl's.

Capitol Hill veterans have a nickname for the ritual. In a family newspaper, it probably should be paraphrased as "Rump-Kissers' Alley."

[snipped]

The late congressman G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery (D-Miss.), who was something of a pioneer along the center aisle, used to counsel junior members to sit next to him if they wanted to be sure to snag a presidential handshake.

But Montgomery was a piker compared with some who followed.

In 2007, then-freshman Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) - another regular in the alley - made her first big impression on the country by grabbing Bush on his way out of the chamber. She planted a kiss on him and managed to hang on to him for a full 30 seconds before he was able to escape.