We were here for a president's speech, but much of our attention was on the two Democrats dueling for the right to give this speech next year, and on the senior statesman who gave one of them a huge boost today.

As soon as Sen. Barack Obama walked down the center aisle of the packed House chamber at 8:38 p.m., all the attention in the room centered in on the Democrat from Illinois.

Just behind Mr. Obama was Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, civil rights pioneer, lion of the Senate, senior member of the grandest Democratic dynasty, who earlier today endorsed Mr. Obama for president despite entreaties from President Bill Clinton not to do so.

Mr. Obama worked both sides of the aisle, and got so much attention -- from both sides -- that he caused a backup behind him.

As he neared the front of the chamber, Mr. Obama leaned in and whispered in the ear of Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. Mr. Clinton dismissively compared Mr. Obama to Jesse Jackson after the Illinois senator won the South Carolina primary, a state won by the elder Jackson in presidential races in 1984 and 1988.

The younger Mr. Jackson gave Mr. Obama a hearty handshake, a few strong words, and Mr. Obama moved on to shake the hands of the Joint Chiefs of Staff others.

Then Sen. Hillary Clinton, New York Democrat and Mr. Obama's rival, entered the chamber, hard to miss in a bright red suit.

Mrs. Clinton also spoke to Mr. Jackson on her way down the middle row, but Mr. Jackson's demeanor was one of someone hearing assurances, not the confidential, almost conspiratorial pose he struck with Mr. Obama.

Mrs. Clinton also got a lot of hugs and reassuring nods and looks from other female lawmakers, not the kind of treatment usually reserved for a front runner.

I did not personally see this, but photographers said that at one point before Mr. Bush entered the chamber, Mrs. Clinton leaned across an aisle to shake Mr. Kennedy's hand, but that Mr. Obama turned his back at the same time she was doing this.

I did see Mr. Obama take the unusual step of walking over to the president's cabinet just before Mr. Bush's entrance, to shake hands with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and to whisper something in the ear of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

Mr. Obama then moved over to shake hands with the four U.S. Supreme Court Justices who attended: Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Anthony Kennedy, Stephen Breyer and Samuel Alito.

When Mr. Bush entered the House chamber at 9:05, Mrs. Clinton stopped clapping after a few moments. Mr. Obama, however, clapped for almost the entire four minutes that Mr. Bush took to walk down the aisle.

One of the few policy lines on which the two senators differed came when Mr. Bush said that Al Qaeda is "on the run" in Iraq. Mrs. Clinton stood and clapped, while Mr. Obama did not.

On his way out of the chamber after his speech, Mr. Bush shook Mr. Obama's hand and then Mr. Kennedy's, and made a few quick remarks to both, drawing a smile from Mr. Obama.

And now for some other details of interest.

White House advisors Kevin Sullivan and Barry Jackson, and White House spokesman Scott Stanzel were seen standing against the wall to the president's left at the back of the chamber.

Ed Gillespie, the president's counselor, was seated among Senate Republicans, in the same row as Sen. Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania Republican.

And National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley was seated in the gallery, but they must have run out of seats in First Lady Laura Bush's box, because Mr. Hadley was sitting on the stairs.

Mr. Bush's daughters, Jenna and Barbara, both attended and sat on either side of their mom. Jenna, who is set to be married this spring, got so excited at one point that she broke out into applause all by herself.

When her father said that "people, when given the chance, will choose a future of freedom and peace," Jenna clapped twice loud enough to be heard in the press gallery, but she was the only one in the chamber clapping. She shot a slightly embarrassed look at Lynne Cheney, the vice president's wife, who was sitting to her right and nodded but did not smile.

Sen. Olympia Snowe was not as certain about applauding. The Maine Republican was wearing some sort of cast on her right hand (Mr. Bush asked her, "What happened to you?" on his way down the aisle), and when Mr. Bush mentioned judicial nominees, Mrs. Snowe rose uncertainly and then looked a few times as if she was about to tap her right hand softly with her good hand, but never actually got around to it.

The other notable moments of interest included Democrats hissing when Mr. Bush said telecommunications companies should receive immunity from prosecution for giving information to the government, and audibly protesting when Mr. Bush said the No Child Left Behind law has reaped results that "no one can deny."

Overall, the mood on the Republican side was pretty loud and supportive of the president, but there were plenty of looks that said the GOP knows their chances of being in power next year are slim.

The Democrats, on the other hand, mocked Republican support for spending discipline and appeared, at one point, to be cheering the fact that tonight was Mr. Bush's last State of the Union address.