By David Harrison, CQ Staff

The partisan sniping around President Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress did not end with last week’s scheduling fight.

The political jousting resumed Wednesday on the eve of the jobs speech as some Republicans dismissed the president’s appearance as a campaign exercise, and some Democrats decried the GOP’s decision to forgo a formal rebuttal.

Although the administration says the speech is meant to give the president a prominent venue to outline a vital strategy to boost the economy and create jobs, a handful of Republican lawmakers have said they will not attend the session or remain undecided about their plans for Thursday evening.

Republican leaders passed on their opportunity to offer an official, televised rebuttal to Obama because, according to Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Speaker John A. Boehner, “Republicans are, and have been, entirely focused on job creation.”

The decision seemed to infuriate Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who accused the GOP of being “not only disrespectful to [Obama], but to the American people.”

Missouri Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II tried to stay above the fray. “I would like to interpret the fact that they’re not going to have a rebuttal as a sign of respect,” he said.

The back-and-forth over Obama’s speech offers the latest evidence that partisan disputes over procedures and perceived slights will continue to be a feature of the 112th Congress, despite assurances from leaders in both parties that they have taken to heart their constituents’ pleas to work together for the good of the country.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., played down reports that some of his GOP colleagues will be elsewhere when Obama presents his proposals to Congress and the nation. “I don’t think there’s much evidence” that many lawmakers will be no-shows, he said.

White House spokesman Jay Carney dismissed talk about absent lawmakers and rebuttals as “sideshows.”

But some Republicans said they had made other plans or were not certain the joint session would be a compelling event.

South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint said he planned to visit Boeing Co. officials and tour the aircraft maker’s Charleston, S.C., factory that has been the target of a complaint by the National Labor Relations Board staff.

Georgia Rep. Paul Broun said he will be presiding over a town hall meeting on Twitter while Obama is speaking, and Louisiana Sen. David Vitter said he will be hosting family and friends in advance of the National Football League’s season kickoff game between the New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers.

Republican Joe Walsh of Illinois wrote on Twitter that he will also skip the speech. Sen. James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma said he had not decided whether he would attend. “Do I want to sit down and listen to the same thing over and over and over again? No,” Inhofe said.