Your Questions Answered About the State of the Union

Why did Barack Obama turn his back on Hillary Clinton?

Obama's camp insisted he was just trying to avoid an awkward moment by turning as Clinton greeted Ted Kennedy before the speech. Having just snagged Kennedy's endorsement, the Illinois senator didn't want to hover or look like he was gloating, said strategist David Axelrod. Obama himself said he simply turned to answer a question by Sen. Claire McCaskill. "It was not a snub," she told our colleague Alec MacGillis. "I had a ringside seat. It was one of those accidents that just happen and it got caught on film."

What will be this year's viral-video moment?

At press time, a clip of the GOP side standing to cheer Bush's call for tax relief while Dems stay seated is outpacing a reaction shot of Clinton frowning, according to YouTube stats tracked by New Media Strategies. Remains to be seen whether either can compete with John McCain dozing during the '07 SOTU (281,000 views) or Clinton laughing during the '06 speech (67,000 views).

Which Cabinet member was "designated survivor"?

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne was whisked to a secure, undisclosed location while the other VIPs went to the Capitol. One Cabinet member is selected to steer clear of each SOTU in case of a catastrophe; this is the fifth time in 20 years the Interior chief -- eighth in line of succession -- got the nod.

Anything else happen?

Rep. Barney Frank was on his cell when President Bush passed by and joked, "Tell him I said hello." Later, the openly gay congressman told him it was his boyfriend on the line, reports Matthew Huisman of the Boston University-Washington News Service. "Oh, okay, I hope he appreciates how open-minded I am," Bush said.

Hayden Panettiere: She's Fired Up!

Once in a generation comes a new political talent who not only stirs the hearts of regular Americans but inspires even the cynical Washington establishment.

We speak, of course, of Hayden Panettiere, the cheerleader from the hit show "Heroes," who has wrapped her three-day D.C. charm offensive for "Save the Whales Again!" The starlet, 18, yesterday appeared at a news conference with Sen. John Kerry and Reps. Nick Rahall and Chris Shays, then a reception with Sen. Maria Cantwell; on Sunday it was a rally in Dupont Circle; and in between, she visited the embassies of Iceland, Norway and Japan, trailed by a mob of paparazzi. (Where were these guys when we needed pix of Jenna 's haircut?)

Panettiere also stole a teensy bit of limelight when she unexpectedly showed up Monday for Barack Obama's big Kennedy endorsement at American University. She told multimedia diva Tammy Haddad (who posted a video clip at Newsweek.com) that she had a brief but fruitful chat with the Illinois senator. "He was very supportive. He grew up in Hawaii around whales and dolphins." So, an endorsement? "We exchanged cards," she demurred. "We're going to have a conversation."

LOVE, ETC.

* Double-celebrating: Martin Luther King III, 50, who just recently divulged that he and longtime girlfriend Arndrea Waters,34, were quietly married in May 2006, and that she is expecting a child this spring -- the first grandchild of the slain civil rights icon. King told our colleague Hamil Harris at the State of the Union they will name their daughter Yolanda, after his sister who died last spring.

* Expecting: Gwen Stefani, 38, and Gavin Rossdale, 40, who are getting a sibling for toddler son Kingston. The pop star announced her previous pregnancy from the concert stage; this time they let Dad deliver the news to People mag.

THIS JUST IN . . .

* Our colleague Michael Wilbon expects to leave an Arizona hospital today after suffering a mild heart attack Monday. The popular sports pundit, 49, was in Scottsdale, Ariz., when he felt pain in his left arm; hours later he underwent an angioplasty. Will the doctor let him cover the Super Bowl? "If he says no, I'll listen," Wilbon told us.

* Obama's got the Kennedys; now Ron Paul has Arlo Guthrie. The folk singer endorsed the Libertarian/Republican yesterday as the "only candidate" who would have signed the Constitution if he'd been alive in 1787.