Duck Dynasty and the naked politics of State of the Union guests

With all its pomp and pageantry, the State of the Union is one of Washington's most theatrical nights. But the political performance is not limited to the president's address, extending to the night's guest list as well.

While the House invites multiple guests to sit with the First Lady every year, each member of Congress gets to bring a plus-one, too. And though lawmakers often bring spouses or friends, many of them tap guests to send not-so-subtle signals about their agendas, beliefs, and beefs with the president.

That's because the formality of the event otherwise prevents attendees from responding to the address in any way besides applause, or a conspicuous lack thereof. Short of shouting, "You lie!" — as Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), in a breach of decorum, infamously did during Obama's September 2009 joint address to Congress — there's really no way for lawmakers to communicate what they really think.

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It's how Ted Nugent — the loin cloth-wearing rocker and unabashed NRA member who has a penchant for insulting and threatening Obama — was ever allowed in the same room as the president. Firebrand Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas), who brought Nugent last year to oppose Obama's push for stricter gun laws in the wake of the Newtown school shooting, explained his invite by saying Nugent "speaks for millions of Americans who understand how the Second Amendment protects freedom and stops crime."

Meanwhile, some 20 other members of Congress, as well as the president, brought guests who had been personally impacted by gun violence.

This year, lawmakers are again bringing guests who embody the most pressing issues of the day.

With Democrats placing a renewed focus on income inequality, Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) is bringing a McDonald's worker who is struggling to support her two children. Last month, Sanchez and other progressive Democrats released a joint letter urging fast food chains to raise their wages.

Hoping to rally support for the Affordable Care Act, several other Democrats, including Democratic National Committee Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.), are bringing people whom the law has aided. And Obama, too, has invited a prominent guest to spotlight the benefits of his eponymous law: Kentucky's Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear, whose state has been one of ObamaCare's biggest success stories.

The NBA's first openly gay player, Jason Collins, will also sit with First Lady Michelle Obama Tuesday night. And, in a nod to Obama's calls for the House to act on immigration reform, so too will Cristian Avila, an undocumented immigrant brought to the country as a child by her parents.

On the other side of the aisle, many Republicans are bringing guests who (surprise!) are critical of ObamaCare. Stockman's guest will be Chad Henderson, the student who claimed he had enrolled himself and his father in ObamaCare, but later said he never finished signing up. Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) will bring a handful of business owners from his district whose lives, he says, have been made harder by ObamaCare.

"Their presence at the State of the Union is one way to help ensure their stories are told," he said.

Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.) will bring the father of a Navy SEAL killed in the Benghazi consulate attack. Republicans have criticized the administration for not preventing the deadly raid, and suggested the White House tried to cover up the involvement of terrorists.

And in a similar vein, Rep. Vance McAllister (R-La.) has invited Willie Robertson, from A&E's Duck Dynasty, to be his guest. Republicans last month raced to defend Phil Robertson, Willie's father, with somewhat clumsy First Amendment arguments after the television network suspended him for controversial remarks about race and sexual orientation.

That invite perhaps most neatly sums up how the address can serve as a forum for even the most questionable cause célèbres: While the president discusses his vision for America and second-term agenda, the son of a reality TV star best known for being yanked off the air will be in attendance, sitting silently as a wink to the conservative base.