Last night all eyes were on Obama during his annual State of the Union address before congress. The state of the union address is a longstanding tradition in the United States and the first address was delivered by George Washington in 1790. During the speech the president reports on the condition of the country and also allows the president to outline his legislative agenda for the coming year. Since this is a presidential election year Mr. Obama’s speech attracted more attention than usual. While watching the speech many viewers engaged in an annual tradition; State if the Union bingo games.
In Westchester County New York Republicans met at the Horse & Hound restaurant in South Salem to watch Mr. Obama deliver his address. They also had a little fun at the President’s expense. This is the second year the GOP has held this event in Westchester County. The game was organized by Luke Vander Linden, vice chair of the Bedford Republican Committee. Vander Linden told local reporters “It’s an opportunity to get everyone to come together and have a little fun. This is our second one and we’d like to make it a tradition.” Vander Linden went on to say that the game is a chance for like minded people to get together. Vander Linden stated “We respect the office. We want to see what he has to say.”
One of the highlights of the event was a game of ‘Obama bingo.’ Players were given a card with various catch phrases such as “Economy,” “Green Jobs,” “Fair Share,” and others commonly used by the president. If Obama used one of the phrases players marked their cards. State of the Union bingo games are not the sole domain of the opposition party. There are State of the Union bingo games available for those of varying political beliefs. Many people in both political camps attended State of the Union parties where the special bingo games were played. Bingo cards could be downloaded from several political websites and a few online bingo sites also got in on the action.
One thing is for sure in Washington; political rhetoric is never in short supply. One newspaper asked readers to supply buzzwords and catch phrases to be used in their State of the Union bingo game. Some bars and clubs held bipartisan events which offered state of the union bingo games as part of the evening’s entertainment.
