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How To Watch Nikki Haley's SOTU Response

by Chris Tognotti

On Tuesday night, President Obama will deliver the final State of the Union address of his presidency, complete with all the pomp and circumstance that goes along with the big annual speech. And in addition to all the typical sights and sounds ― the long, glad-handing entrance, the applause lines, the stingers directed at the other party, the cutaways to the audience and such ― one post-address tradition will fall to South Carolina's Republican governor. But hos can you see it? What channel is Nikki Haley's State of the Union rebuttal on?

You might have seen one of these post-SOTU responses before. They happen every year, and they're often seen as a valuable moment in the national spotlight for ascendant members of the party in opposition to that which holds the White House. It hasn't always played out that way in practice, however. Former Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal's stilted, much-ridiculed performance in 2009 is probably exhibit A. Marco Rubio's attempt in 2013 was certainly stronger on rhetoric, though it did give America its first glimpse of his "water thing."

But Haley is clearly in prime position within her party at the moment. She's the youngest governor in the United States, is solidly popular in her state, and has generated buzz as a potential vice presidential pick. In other words, if you're not that familiar with her, you might want to change that come Tuesday night.

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Luckily, her speech won't be hard to find. While any Republican (or any politician, for that matter) can stage their own State of the Union response ― you might remember Michele Bachmann's ill-fated Tea Party response in 2011 ― this is the official one. As such, it'll be on numerous channels after the conclusion of the president's address. CNN, NBC, ABC, and CBS will all carry Haley's speech, so if there are any technical difficulties that keep you from watching it on one of those channels, you can always flip over to another! C-SPAN will also be airing the proceedings, and they're a very good bet for reliable, to-the-point political coverage.

Unfortunately, it's not quite as simple to determine when Haley will be on. That depends on how long the president's address takes, as well as the long stretch of time it takes him to enter and depart from the House floor. Considering that this is his last go-around with the SOTU, he might get tied up with even more handshaking and well-wishing than usual. If the lengths of his previous addresses are any indication, though, it'll probably run a little over an hour, meaning you should expect Haley's response sometime in the realm of 10:00 p.m. ET.