Besides that water break, how was Marco Rubio's speech?
Perhaps predictably, opinions are divided along ideological lines
Before Marco Rubio lurched for a pint-sized bottle of Poland Spring on national television, and before bored journalists on Twitter erupted with hallelujahs and gleeful gifs, the senator from Florida was in the midst of delivering a response to President Obama's State of the Union address that was meant to showcase not only Rubio himself, but the Republican Party's agenda as its seeks to bounce back from a demoralizing defeat in November. Rubio handled his Watergate with about as much aplomb as any politician could muster — he told ABC News this morning that "God has a funny way of reminding us we're human." But what about the speech itself, which amounted to a well-executed broadside on big government? Let's say it received only a mixed response from the pundit gallery.
Opinions were, of course, divided along ideological lines. Liberals saw parts of his speech — such as when he claimed that the financial crisis was caused by the government, or that government shouldn't take steps to curb climate change — as more evidence that the GOP is painfully out of touch with reality. "If there's a single line that encapsulates the mindless anti-government doggerel that characterized Marco Rubio's response to the State of the Union address it was his flip dismissal of any government response to climate change, because 'our government can't control the weather,'" says Jonathan Chait at New York. As for the idea that the government caused the financial crisis, as opposed to private Wall Street banks that made a killing on subprime loans, the idea "is simply idiotic," says Steve Benen at The Maddow Blog.
Some conservatives, however, welcomed Rubio's attempt to shed the GOP's reputation as a defender of the wealthy by underscoring his family's humble roots. "To this point, the substance of Rubio's rebuttal was very good," says Pete Hegseth at National Review. "His 'we're not the party of the rich' message is badly needed, as is his central focus on equal opportunity."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Indeed, fans of Rubio's speech largely support the idea that the Republican Party's problems stem mostly from messaging and optics, rather than from the core tenets of its ideological philosophy. "[The speech] was as much an exercise in erasing Mitt Romney's legacy on the Republican Party as it was a traditional response to" Obama's address, says Jonathan Martin at Politico. "The selection of Rubio to speak for his party marked the latest, and perhaps most overt, step in the GOP's rehabilitation project since Election Day, an effort to repackage its identity without altering its policies."
And that stuck in the craw of several moderate conservative commentators who want to see the GOP make fundamental changes. "If your whole story is economic liberty, you're not really offering much," said New York Times columnist David Brooks on PBS NewsHour. "And I didn't see much rethinking in this speech; it could have been given by any Republican in the last 20 years."
Josh Barro at Bloomberg agrees: "This is the case Mitt Romney made against Obama in the 2012 election. It's the case that Republican Senate candidates made all over the country. It is a case for trickle-down economics. And it is a case that Americans have rejected."
However, this appears to be, for now at least, the Republican Party's approach to its recent setbacks. As David Frum at The Daily Beast describes it: "All that needs to change is (1) the party's stance on immigration and (2) the party's tone. Junk the Ayn Rand rhetoric about moochers and takers and spare a compassionate word for the unemployed. Then find a candidate with an appealing life story — particularly one who can speak Spanish — and it's onward to victory."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The only question now is whether voters will agree.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Ryu Spaeth is deputy editor at TheWeek.com. Follow him on Twitter.
-
Today's political cartoons - April 21, 2024
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - devilish decrees, biblical blunders, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 carefully selected cartoons about the Trump-Daniels jury selection process
Cartoons Artists take on a stress-free life, rare peers, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Loire Valley Lodges review: sleep, feast and revive in treetop luxury
The Week Recommends Forest hideaway offers chance to relax and reset in Michelin key-winning comfort
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published