Replies to post #198331 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[arizona1]

Dear GOP Whiners-Nobody Forced You To Put Rubio On TV

Seriously, enough with the sanctimonious outrage and mourning for the loss of content. I've seen enough gifs of Joe Biden heehawing to fill half my day, and how many times did we see Hilary cry or pound a desk? Politics is just as much IMAGE as substance and quit pretending otherwise. The general population does not want some wonky chat about the minimum wage after last night's performance...what do they want? Well, I will tell you.

They want to talk about how incredibly amateur hour Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) looked with his sweating, dry-mouthed, stilted language and then that ridiculous water grab. He looked like Swiper on Dora the Explorer trying to get away with something. It was just PAINFUL to watch. I'm not being partisan. I'm being honest.. Rubio looked as awkward as a middle-schooler on what should have been the biggest speech of his political life thus far.

Politics on the large scale is all about image as we well know, and Rubio crashed and burned big time, just like Jindal and Bachmann before him. Jindal must be cheering somewhere to have the harsh light of horrible SOTU rebuttals off him somewhat.

Rubio looked scared to death and that goofy grin at the end...who prepped him for this? That entire team should be fired. And no one without solid national TV experience should EVER be allowed to deliver the GOP SOTU rebuttal again. They are writing the jokes for SNL and Jon Stewart and Colbert et al.

Whoever did Rubio's set--onscreen and off should also be fired. The lighting looked two-bit, that family picture was absurd, how many curtains does one man need and they could have only made him look more awkward and ridiculous if they put the water on the floor in a sippy cup. Give the man a glass on a table that isn't knee high. I can appreciate the need for a drink of water, but why make him damn-near commando crawl over to get it? It was like a SOTU Rebuttal Survivor challenge.

Oh, and he needs teleprompter practice big-time. Nothing wrong with a teleprompter, IMO. It's better than note cards. Can we all just imagine how spectacularly more awful that would have been off the cuff? If you can't drink water on the fly......anyway.

People are confusing media spin--which is really what current politics is about--with substance. For better or worse, gurgling down some water in a national speech is what will be remembered just like Obama's looks of boredom in the debates. Rubio offered no new ideas and didn't even embrace the one thing he's become noted for. He used stale talking points, so his horrible stage show takes precedence.

Most people do not give two hoots to what the message was, but if someone burps on camera, it will make the front page. Rubio nearly choked on his own tongue before he crawled around on the ground to slurp some water. Seriously--have you EVER seen that happen on national TV? Al Gore's eye rolls, Biden's facial theatrics, Obama's boredom, Palin's notes on her hand, Perry's gaffe's, McCain doddering around like a lost grandpa in his Obama debate, Paul Ryan thirsting to death....that IS what modern politics is about because it destroys the image. I'm not saying it is the way it SHOULD be, but it is the way it IS and it has been since Nixon didn't wear makeup in the 60s.

If Rubio had offered anything dynamic and of substance, he would have been able to offset the water thing some, but he did not, so now he is the Poland Springs Poster boy, so quit whining or pretending that you want some serious debate on the issues because, please. We all know that is the LAST thing a chattering head from the right wants to have to actually defend.

No one twisted your arms to make you pick the guy. The GOP's knee jerk attempts to appeal to whatever target group they think they can suddenly swing right are pathetic, at best. If you are picking your speakers based on ethnicity or appeal to a certain demographic, chances are it will backfire on you. And it did last night-big time.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/13/1186810/-Dear-GOP-Whiners-Nobody-Forced-You-To-Put-Rubio-On-TV

[DesertDrifter]

it was just product placement.

Rubio fundraises off State of the Union response by selling water bottles
By Chris Moody

From the very beginning, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has kept a sense of humor about his now infamous reach-and-sip moment during the official Republican response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address.

Now, he's cashing in on it.

In exchange for a $25 donation to Rubio's political action committee, the Reclaim America PAC will send you an official "Marco Rubio water bottle."

"Send the liberal detractors a message that not only does Marco Rubio inspire you…he hydrates you too," the page reads.