Senator Mark Rubio's drinking problem during President's State of Union address
Posted on Wednesday, February 13, 2013 at 01:02 AM
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| Senator Mark Rubio |
It was the gulp heard around the world.
Senator Marco Rubio's desperate thirst quenching impulse near the end of his response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union sent Twitter users into a frenzy.
Rubio, who had looked ill at ease mopping his forehead in front of the bright lights, suddenly provided the viewing public with the probable reason: bone dry thirst.
Twitter itself said there were about 9,200 tweets per minute after Rubio's sudden dive to the right of camera to retrieve a tiny plastic water bottle. For a short time the hashtags #watergate, #gulpgate and #PolandSpringsWtr were trending on the social media site.
GOP strategist Mike Murphy tweeted that the water bottle moment detracted from the substance of the senator's remarks. 'Strong material but the trivial water bit will get endless attention. #LifeUnfair,' Murphy tweeted.
But former Democratic strategist Paul Begala was less kind, tweeting: 'Marco Rubio, the man you want to have a desperate gulp of water with.'
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The unexpected fun commentators were suddenly having saw Rubio's message get lost on social media about eleven minutes into his speech, when the visibly overheated senator made the dive for his bottle.
It was, NBC anchor Brian Williams remarked drolly, an 'impassioned drink of water.' It was also in that moment that Rubio, the man who Time magazine recently crowned The Republican Savior, looked most sincere.
From little ripples come great ones. Objections to the content of Rubio's speech quickly became objections to his character.
Bill Maher tweeted: 'Wow, what a shameless liar this Rubio guy is – Obama created more debt than Bush? Well, if you don’t believe in science, why not math too?'
Kevin Powell saw the real writing on the political wall, tweeting: 'I hope Saturday Night Live has a field day with the Marco Rubio stumble, gulp, and water grab. That speech was clumsy and terrible.'
But it was Stephanie Cutter, Deputy Campaign Manager for Obama, who really nailed what was happening, tweeting: 'Rubio going the way of (Bobby) Jindal - just slightly more nervous and with a little bit more sweat.'
See more: Offbeat Irish , US president , Irish GOP
55 comments
hollabackgurl | Feb 13, 2013, 10:43 PM EST
Rubio looked goofy. Goofiness doesn't matter if you have good ideas. Rubio's speech proved that he doesn't have any.
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olovely | Feb 13, 2013, 10:29 PM EST
Perhaps you guys aren't familiar with the internet? Rubio's desperate dive for water is all over it. Try this here newfangled thing called a Google search. The public can't bear to hear the same old dried up talking points: tax cuts for billionaires will make us all rich, war is peace, minorities don't deserve rights, guns are life-preservers.
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Maggie47 | Feb 13, 2013, 08:25 PM EST
Cahir, Marco Rubio taking a sip of water.
President Obama lying to the american people which is worse?
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boydshield | Feb 13, 2013, 07:16 PM EST
When I worked for the government, I once asked my boss, 'Why do I work with such stupid people?' His response, 'It's All we can afford.'
I would guess the editor feels Cahir is all he can afford. Rubio had first given the speech in Spanish, and then to the networks in English.
Read Cahir's paragraph that starts, 'The unexpected fun commentators were suddenly having saw...' He obviously can't write.
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olovely | Feb 13, 2013, 06:26 PM EST
Rubio did not vote for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. Can you make sense of the reason he gave: ""Unfortunately, I could not support the final, entire legislation that contains new provisions that could have potentially adverse consequences. Specifically, this bill would mandate the diversion of a portion of funding from domestic violence programs to sexual assault programs."—Senator Marco Rubio. I can't. Because it doesn't make sense. War on Women Round II.
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katieherk | Feb 13, 2013, 06:24 PM EST
Oh, come on, if it had been a liberal he would have been congratulated for being smart enough to take a drink of water when thirsty. I swear you people who made fun of this are getting more stupid by the day.... and you run this country? (i.e., liberals do)
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Pittsburghkid | Feb 13, 2013, 06:20 PM EST
The only knock against Rubio is drinking water. This will be soon forgotten, but Obama mismanagement will last for a long time.
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Smyrnian | Feb 13, 2013, 06:17 PM EST
Takes the cake for stupidest article on IC for a long time! There must have been a shortage of anti-catholic stuff to be raked up so they put in this drivel. Silly!
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seanomelb | Feb 13, 2013, 05:12 PM EST
Telling lies tends to dry the mouth and increase perspiration he is one big liar.
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Shmrck5S | Feb 13, 2013, 04:23 PM EST
IC must have truncated this piece. There was no reference to the LGBT constituency. Didn't know the author could write without such a reference.
The Dem's don't see a problem with teleprompters (nor do I); I don't see a problem with a water bottle.
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Scrivner | Feb 13, 2013, 03:53 PM EST
Cahir, here you go again, showing your inate racism against those with brown skin. Maybe bashing O'Rubio (let's make hime Irish, too) and Jindal (thank you for not sayhing that he should go manage a 7-11, a la VP Biden)does not polish your image. IC has put out another hit peice, disguised as journalism.
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olovely | Feb 13, 2013, 02:40 PM EST
Rubio didn't even attempt to challenge Obama's plans. Instead he just parroted the same old GOP catechism that lost them the last election and will the next. Short of ideas and short of water, eh?
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RichardP | Feb 13, 2013, 02:31 PM EST
Seriously? The guy has a drink of water and it's news? It's indicative of all sorts of problems? Give me a break
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cillowen | Feb 13, 2013, 01:36 PM EST
cuba libras - his skin is getting that boehner texture - notice how drunks get that dried out glassy eye look.
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