Where to watch the State of the Union address

Looking for some drinking game tips? Barack Obama’s favorite words in his 2011 State of the Union speech included “jobs," “government,” “Americans” and “people.” (Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post)Who needs a legitimate pro football team? Washington has its own Super Bowl-like tradition every January: Watching the State of the Union in bars and restaurants all over the city, with big screens, full sound and even the occasional drinking game.

The bars on Capitol Hill will be prime territory. Capitol Lounge and Lounge 201 are among the hotspots showing the speech on all their flat-screen TVs. (Lounge 201’s viewing party boasts $4 “SOTU-tinis.”)

The party that’s most likely to force you to call in sick on Wednesday is the seventh annual throwdown at Ventnor Sports Cafe in Adams Morgan. Pick any word -- “housing” or “unemployment” or “pipeline” -- and every time the president says it, you get a $1 Jello shot. (Pro tip: Don’t select “America” or “jobs” unless you’ve got a strong liver; each was used more than 20 times in 2011.)

Things should be a little more intellectual -- and entertaining -- at the 14th Street Busboys and Poets. After a viewing party hosted by Obama for America, attendees are invited to offer their own “State of the Union” in rhyme during the weekly open mike poetry night, which begins at 9 p.m.

The other three Busboys and Poets locations are also hosting viewings: Both Shirlington and Hyattsville locations feature post-speech panel discussions -- Shirlington’s is hosted by the Arlington Democrats. A coalition of groups, including AllHipHop.com, the League of Young Voters and the Ustream streaming video site, are sponsoring a viewing party called BarackTalk at the City Vista Busboys, with an interactive online panel discussion on youngvoterlive.com.

If you’re going to any of the Busboys events, take the pre-speech 2012 election poll beforehand; results will be announed at each party.

Meridian Pint will show the speech with full volume in its basement bar. DC Brau beers and Jameson whiskey will be $2 off from 8 p.m. to close.

Want to combine dancing and politics? Local salseros and salseras are turning the weekly Latin dance party at Fiesta Lounge into a State of the Union event. Stop by to watch the speech, then get grooving to a DJ. There is a $5 cover charge at the door, and 75 percent of the fees collected will be donated to the Obama 2012 campaign.

The Network for Progress’s annual State of the Union Progress party at Local 16, hosted by a coalition of groups including Generation Obama and Northern Virginia for Obama, will feature a raffle, State of the Union bingo and a DJ. Admission is free, but RSVPs are suggested.

Obama 2012 volunteers are hosting a free “Yes We Will” viewing party at the Grand Hyatt’s Cure Bar and Bistro.

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Florida Republican debate: Where and when to watch

Debates matter. That was one of the major takeaways from the South Carolina primary, which Newt Gingrich won handily on Saturday.

Republican presidential candidate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich reacts to a question at the start of the Republican presidential candidate debate at the North Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, S.C., Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. (David Goldman - Associated Press)

With the primary shaping up to be more competitive than it seemed just a few weeks ago and the winner-take-all Florida primary just eight days away, Monday and Thursday night’s debates will matter quite a lot.

Here are the details you will need to tune into Monday night’s Republican Candidates Debate sponsored by NBC News, National Journal, and the Tampa Bay Times.

The debate at the University of South Florida in Tampa, will air on NBC at 9 p.m. ET in the place of “Rock Center” and will be livestreaming on NBCNews.com, NationalJournal.com TampaBay.com.

As usual, The Fix will host a live chat throughout the debate starting at 8:30 p.m. and Felicia Sonmez will live-blog all the events starting around 8:30 p.m. in Election 2012.

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.), U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and former U.S. senator Rick Santorum (Pa.).

Rock Center host Brian Williams will host his second debate of the 2012 cycle. National Journal’s Beth Reinhard and the Tampa Bay Times’s Adam Smith will also question the participants.

@NBCPolitics is using #FLDebate on Twitter.

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Presidential debate fatigue: How many is too many?

Florida, Florida, Florida: A Sunshine state political primer

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Date Lab: Blind daters go where the wild things are

Will:?When I’m in [a] fun place with a large group of friends or people I like.

Shaw:?I just love being with the people I love, with no worries to distract us. Unless we are at a sporting event, where me and my friends tend to get a bit nuts.

Your type ...

Will:?Blond hair and blue eyes ... those features stand out to me; however, I really like well-spoken and well-rounded people who can keep my attention.

Shaw:?6-foot-2 and up. Lean, muscular but not bulky. Little bit nerdy with a good job. Yankees fan (I just can’t date Red Sox fans; I’ve tried).

Interests to share ...

Will:? Travel, cooking, biking, sports, arts and concerts ... but open to new things. I’d also be intrigued by a different outlook than mine; it’s good when both sides are heard.

Shaw:?Love of sports. Passionate about any and all kinds of music. Tapas and wine, or steak and Scotch for every dinner. Optimism. Love of traveling. Appreciation of the little things and staying in some Saturday nights.

About the date ...

6:30 p.m., ZooLights event at National Zoo, Woodley Park

Shaw: I’m a very private kind of person, so [Date Lab] was completely out of my comfort zone. Once I got there on time, it was, “How the [heck] am I going to know who this person is?” So I just sat down and decided that he would find me.

Will: I thought I saw Shaw. She looks like the type of girl I’d go after, and she was walking alone and holding her phone. So I walked outside and said, “Hey, are you here with Date Lab?”

Shaw:He’s really tall and I was sitting on a bench so I was, like, looking at his belly button. Immediately I thought he was so cute. [And] he’s the kind of guy that I could actually wear heels around, which I appreciate.

Will: We started walking and talking right away, going inside the exhibits. It was very comfortable right away.

Shaw: It was definitely that nervous, not-too-deep conversation like, “Where are you from?” He’s really nice and really outgoing, [and] he’s such a gentleman. I was shocked when he kept opening doors for me. I was like, “This doesn’t happen here.”

Will: I really wanted to see the reptile house, because I was terrified of snakes when I grew up. So I told her, ... “It’s going to be a big step for me.” It was pretty cool. We came across some pretty freaky snakes.

Shaw: We had to go through it twice. We were walking by it again, and he was like, “Let’s just go in again.” I thought that was really cute, very endearing. The zoo was fun. It was freezing, though, so once we saw everything we decided to go to dinner.

8:15 p.m., Ardeo+Bardeo, Cleveland Park

Will: We dove right into the menu. I told [Shaw], “You pick out the wine,” because she said she liked wine. I’m pretty daring when it comes to food. She told me from the get-go, “Well, I can’t eat shrimp or scallops, because I’m allergic, but I’ll eat anything else.” I was like: Okay, good, she has no fear.

Shaw: At dinner, we really opened up. I had been kind of iffy before that on him; there was so much distraction at the zoo that I had no way of knowing if we had anything in common. But dinner was awesome. He’s the more animated one. He likes talking, and I like listening, so it was kind of perfect. [And] he wasn’t trying to put on a front. He was just goofy and fun and laid-back. We went through the wine kind of quickly and then we started drinking whiskey. It was my idea, actually. I just like it.

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Paul Rudd: Where his ‘Parks and Recreation’ character and movie roles meet

Paul Rudd, newest star of “Parks and Recreation.” (Danny Moloshok - Reuters)

Paul Rudd made his debut on last night’s “Parks and Recreation” in the role of Bobby Newport, Leslie Knope’s Pawnee City Council opponent and clueless, entitled heir to the sugary Sweetums fortune.

Rudd is scheduled for a multi-episode arc on the NBC comedy — he’ll be featured in at least three, and possibly more, episodes, according to Vulture. So presumably we’ll get to see more of the layers hidden within the man who had the audacity to ask Leslie (Amy Poehler) to suspend her campaign in exchange for VIP access to his election celebration.

After this initial meeting, though, it’s definitely easy to see where Newport and some of the characters Rudd has previously played intersect. At the moment, this is how I see Bobby Newport.

Obviously, he’s got a dash of Ned from “Our Idiot Brother.”

After last night’s episode of “30 Rock,” I am not sure it’s P.C. to use the word “idiot.” But it seems fair to call Bobby a little dim, at the very least, and not unlike the character Rudd recently played in the film that, along with “The Artist,” Quentin Tarantino dubbed the 10th best movie of 2011.

In terms of being a jerk, Bobby Newport has the potential to channel Andy from “Wet Hot American Summer.”

If Janeane Garofalo asked Bobby to clean up a cafeteria table, I feel confident that he would respond much the way Andy did.

On the handsomeness spectrum, he has the dreamboat potential of Josh from “Clueless.”

His charms already have won over Donna and, seemingly, many of the voters in Pawnee.

And in terms of inarticlateness, I see shades of Peter Klaven from “I Love You, Man.”

He hasn’t said “laters on the menjay” yet. But it’s really just a matter of time.

Would I vote for Bobby Newport? No way. But do I elect to see more of him on “Parks and Recreation”? Yes, please.

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New Hampshire exit polls: where to follow them

Follow Washington Post Polling analysis of exit poll data from tonight’s New Hampshire Republican Primary on the Post’s Election 2012 blog and @postpolls on Twitter. Make sure to check in at 8 p.m. on The Fix blog for a rundown on what’s happening in New Hampshire and why.

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