Yes! It's a sign of unity.
82%
No! The two sides are different and should sit on opposite sides.
18%
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I suggest that scattered seating should be the routine, when in session.
Arranged geographically to roughly represent a population-skewed map of the country would be interesting. Neighbors having to sit with neighbors might affect behavior in a good way.
It is a very good idea, that is why the Republicans will say "NO."
Intermixing the two parties to give the appearance of unity does NOT create unity. However... it does camouflage the disparity... which is exactly what the republicans would want. After all... "both sides do it".
If they are interspersed... when the screamers scream louder... it will look and sound like the entire body is in "unity"... when the reality is far from that.
Keep them apart so the viewers... the voters... can clearly see who supports what... who is trying to build... and who is trying to destroy.
DON'T GET SUCKED INTO THIS. It sounds good... but it will yeild nothing but distortion of the reality.
This is a very good idea. While it may be largely symbolic, it does send a very positive message to the nation.
But for those who hate the idea of American unity, I can see how this may be threatening.
In theory, this sounds like the right thing. However, I remain cynical about this idea from the Republican standpoint. They don't want unity and cooperation. Their only goal is to bring down this president.
The party labels, Democrat and Republican, are abstractions that do not reflect the actual position of each representative. Within each party you have centrist, liberals, and conservatives. For example, to label all Republicans as conservatives does not reflect reality. Each House Representative represents districts whose constituent's beliefs and position vary with each issue. That difference of opinion on various issues becomes even greater within each state and each state Senator in Congress must account for those differences. For that reason, there is no logic and reason for the parties to sit separately during the State of Union Message. If you want to create a culture of debate and compromise in Congress, you don't create fences or borders that only separate and distance political representative from arriving at solutions to various issues.
Leaders lead; this country needs more than just shows of civility, and I think that sitting with one another is important to the practice of being civil, maybe even respectful.
It would be much harder to slight a leader of the opposing party, if one was sitting right next to members of that party. Congress needs to keep stretching themselves, and growing up, a s w e a l l d o .