Republican lawmakers who are skipping the president's jobs speech tonight include Representatives Joe Walsh of Illinois and Paul Broun of Georgia. Senator David Vitter of Louisiana says he's hosting a party to watch the New Orleans Saints tonight.* And then there's Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, who filed his pre-sponse in YouTube form and has now presumably gone on with the rest of his day. From McClatchy:
DeMint posted the video on his YouTube channel and said in a news release that instead of attending Obama's speech he'd spend Thursday evening meeting with Boeing executives and workers at the firm's new jet-manufacturing plant in North Charleston, S.C."I'm excited to meet with folks in South Carolina who are creating jobs and moving our economy forward, not just talking about it," DeMint said.
Whoever else shows up for the speech, we'll carry it live at 7pm Eastern. And then we'll have #Maddow.
*Senator Vitter's press people tell us that because Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid scheduled votes later today, he'll now stay for the speech but watch the game right after in D.C.