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President Obama had just finished speaking to a joint session of Congress — and the excitement was still in Rep. Mike McMahon’s voice in his obligatory debriefing session with The Brooklyn Paper on Tuesday night.
“The president spoke directly and plainly,” said McMahon, who clearly wants to make weekly calls to The Brooklyn Paper a new tradition. “He didn’t sugar-coat the challenges and he didn’t strike a partisan tone. He said we need to fix the problems and restore faith — together.”
Of course, the Bay Ridge Democrat, who took office last month, also appreciated the pomp and circumstance of his first big presidential address.
“I have to say that there was a good mood in the chamber,” said McMahon. “There were a lot of smiles in the room — on both aisles. I wouldn’t say it we are now in a new Era of Good Feelings, but there was a lot of congeniality.”
Unlike the handful of Republicans who sat on their hands during some of the speech, McMahon, who succeeded one-time GOP rising star Vito Fossella, said he never found himself wanting to curtail his applause.
“I cheered the whole thing,” he said. “The president is a serious and inspiring leader. He understands the middle class is the backbone of this country.”
McMahon had a good seat, about five rows from the front of the House podium, to the right of the president. At the end of the speech, he could be seen maneuvering for a word with the Leader of the Free World — though not as assertively as some others.
“We shook hands and he autographed my program,” McMahon said.
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