U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole was one of several North Carolina lawmakers who didn't attend President Bush's final State of the Union address.
Rep. Sue Myrick, a Republican from Charlotte, said she had attended every other one since being elected, but opted to watch this one from her Washington home.
"She just wanted to go home and watch it on television, and the view is actually better on television than on the House floor," her spokesman, Andy Polk, said Tuesday.
Rep. Walter Jones, a Farmville Republican, watched it on television as well.
Democratic Reps. Brad Miller of Raleigh and David Price of Chapel Hill didn't attend either. Miller was ill and Price's wife was retiring from the nonprofit she runs.
Dole's office said she missed the State of the Union for the first time since being elected. She had agreed to speak at the N.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association's annual dinner in Chapel Hill before the date of the speech was announced.
"It's one of the largest associations in the state and Senator Dole wanted to keep her commitment to them," said Dole spokeswoman Amy Auth.
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Re: I'll catch it on the tube
No big surprise here, after 6 years of being a Bush Republican, now she's going to try to pretend like she got her own agenda.
Fortunately her voting record won't be as easy to skip out on.