Marco Rubio's a punch line now, but joke could be on Democrats in 2016

It’s official: Marco Rubio is a national punch line.

After the Florida senator’s weird decision to interrupt his Tuesday rebuttal of the president’s State of the Union speech by taking a swig from a bottle of water, he was quickly mocked on The Daily Show, Colbert Report, Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the Late Show with David Letterman.

Four days later, Saturday Night Live worked him over.

But none of it means Rubio’s a joke.

His recovery from the gaffe has been serious business, a clear-eyed example of protecting a political brand as Rubio eyes a White House bid in four years.

Rubio quickly joined the chorus of mockers Tuesday night by poking fun at himself on Twitter. He posted a picture of the Poland Spring water bottle he grabbed. He then fund-raised off it.

The coverage and mockery perversely benefitted Rubio in another respect: It drew attention away from a speech that, in the eyes of liberals, deserved to be torn apart for misrepresenting the president’s record as well as Rubio’s.

“Don’t worry, Sen. Rubio, nobody noticed — that you gave a speech,” comedian Stephen Colbert joked Wednesday after devoting more than 40 percent of his almost half-hour show to Rubio’s water break.

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Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/02/17/3240147/marc-caputo-a-swig-of-water-isnt.html#storylink=cpy

Marco Rubio trashes President Obama's immigration plan as DOA

That didn't take long. A few hours after President Obama proposed an immigration plan, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio trashed it.

How much of this is real, and how much political posturing?

The press release:

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) issued the following statement regarding new details about President Obama’s immigration plan, as first reported by USA Today.

“It’s a mistake for the White House to draft immigration legislation without seeking input from Republican members of Congress. President Obama’s leaked immigration proposal is disappointing to those of us working on a serious solution. The President’s bill repeats the failures of past legislation. It fails to follow through on previously broken promises to secure our borders, creates a special pathway that puts those who broke our immigration laws at an advantage over those who chose to do things the right way and come here legally, and does nothing to address guest workers or future flow, which serious immigration experts agree is critical to preventing future influxes of illegal immigrants.

“Much like the President’s self-described ‘stop gap’ Deferred Action measure last year, this legislation is half-baked and seriously flawed. It would actually make our immigration problems worse, and would further undermine the American people’s confidence in Washington’s ability to enforce our immigration laws and reform our broken immigration system.

“If actually proposed, the President’s bill would be dead on arrival in Congress, leaving us with unsecured borders and a broken legal immigration system for years to come.”

Obama's new immigration plan: 8-year pathway to permanent residency for the undocumented

President Obama won bipartisan praise for his tone on immigration during his State of the Union speech. Now he's putting some of those ideas on paper. So far, it's the most-specific comprehensive-immigration reform plan proposed. It fills in details of his May 2011 plan, which Florida Sen. Marco Rubio adopted in large part.

USA Today:

A draft of a White House immigration proposal obtained by USA TODAY would allow illegal immigrants to become legal permanent residents within eight years.

The plan also would provide for more security funding and require business owners to check the immigration status of new hires within four years. In addition, the nation's 11 million illegal immigrants could apply for a newly created "Lawful Prospective Immigrant" visa, under the bill being written by the White House.....

According to the White House draft, people would need to pass a criminal background check, submit biometric information and pay fees to qualify for the new visa. If approved, they would be allowed to legally reside in the U.S., work and leave the country for short periods of time.

Illegal immigrants would be disqualified from the program if they were convicted of a crime that led to a prison term of at least one year, three or more different crimes that resulted in a total of 90 days in jail, or if they committed any offense abroad that "if committed in the United States would render the alien inadmissible or removable from the United States."

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Republican "savior?" National Journal goes with "player" profile of Marco Rubio

Time magazine called Florida Sen. Marco Rubio the "Republican Savior." The National Journal (and former Miami Herald reporter Beth Reinhard) sees him in a more calculating light as "The Player" in this (as-yet) most-thorough single piece written about the Republican:

The freshman senator from Florida had joined four veteran colleagues to unveil a proposal for the first major overhaul of immigration law in a quarter-century. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., introduced “my friend, Senator [Marco] Rubio, who obviously is a new but incredibly important voice in this whole issue of immigration reform.”

Two weeks earlier, Rubio had laid out a similar set of principles in an exclusive interview with The Wall Street Journal under the headline, “Marco Rubio: Riding to the Immigration Rescue.” The article came as a surprise to McCain and other members of the bipartisan group of senators who had been sketching out an immigration plan with and without Rubio for weeks. The blueprint was inspired by legislation that McCain first spearheaded in 2005.

The dig was subtle, but Rubio didn’t let it go. “I am clearly new to this issue in terms of the Senate. I am not new in terms of my life,” noted the Cuban-American senator from West Miami. “I live surrounded by immigrants. My neighbors are immigrants. My family is immigrants. Married into a family of immigrants.”

DC's Rubio round-robin: Jay Carney whacks Marco Rubio who whacks Janet Napolitano

@MarcACaputo

Another busy day for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

Just hours after his State of the Union rebuttal swamped Twitter late Tuesday, Rubio did the media rounds Wednesday morning, poked fun at himself and slipped in some policy. Then White House spokesman Jay Carney criticized him. And then he criticized Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano during an afternoon hearing.

Thirst for power? Or just thirst? Marco Rubio's weird, viral dry-mouth moment

Sen. Marco Rubio was cruising along in his rebuttal to the president's State of the Union speech Tuesday night when he couldn't take it any longer.

The small bottle of Poland Spring water was irresistible. Eyes fixed on the camera, the Florida Republican interrupted his own speech to take a live swig.

It quenched his thirst but sent Twitter ablaze. The small, live on-camera miscue helped throw cold water on his GOP response to the president's speech. As if on demand, a tidal wave of mock handles flooded Twitter.

"I voted in favor of the Violence Against Water Bottles Act," @ThirstySenator, tweeted. BuzzFeed noted hundreds, if not thousands, of such accounts and jokes instantly sprang up on Twitter.

Rubio poked fun at himself, later tweeting a picture of the water bottle "#GOPResponse #SOTU #gop #tcot."

Former George W. Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer captured the GOP sentiment about the antediluvian and postdiluvian aspects of the speech.

"Go Marco!" he tweeted early on. Then came the sip heard round the world.

"Hint to Sen. Rubio: crank down the AC before a big speech under the lights. But this is still a very well delivered speech," Fleischer wrote.

Rubio loves his water. Remember the strange Clint Eastwood speech at the Republican National Convention (where he yelled at a chair)? Rubio followed him and made a nervous joke -- after he took a sip from a water bottle at the podium.

“I think I just drank Clint Eastwood’s water,” Rubio smiled. Rubio's speech that night was solid, but he flubbed a line at the very end, accidentally calling for “more government instead of more freedom.”

From a theatrical perspective, the RNC address and tonight's speech were a sign that Rubio isn't at his best with a prepared speech. His rhetorical skills are better designed for the floor of the Senate, in a give-and-take debate or during an interview. Off the cuff, Rubio seems far less likely to come up short.... or thirsty.

Regardless, this on-camera incident was just inexplicably odd for a politician so accustomed to being under the media spotlight.

"In the short time I've been in government, nothing has frustrated me more than false choices like the ones the president laid out today," Rubio said Tuesday night, reaching for the water bottle.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

"The choice isn't just between big government or big business," he resumed after taking his swig. "What we need is an accountable, efficient and effective government that allows small and new businesses to create more middle-class jobs...."

I'm sorry, you were saying something?

 

The Marco Rubio-Jeb Bush-voucher connection

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio immediately followed his rebuttal to the president’s State of the Union address Tuesday night by releasing a “school-choice” bill to allow taxpayers to subsidize private-school education for poor kids.

By putting legislation where his mouth is, Rubio wanted to reinforce the theme of his speech — that conservative policy is good for the poor and working class.

The legislation, which revolves around tax credits, also makes good on a 2010 Rubio campaign pledge, and reinforces his strong ties to former Republican Gov. Jeb Bush, his friend and mentor whose nonprofit education foundation helped shape the legislation.

UltraViolet's Marco Rubio-basher: "Republican Savior Votes Against VAWA"

@MarcACaputo

Hours before giving tthe GOP rebuttal to President Obama's State of the Union speech, Sen. Marco Rubio voted against the new version of the Violence Against Women Act. In the past, Rubio said he'd support re-upping the law as currently written and that he didn't like the way the new legislation affects how states spend money on domestic-violence response or prevention.

But the Republican Rubio didn't have the opportunity to vote for the current VAWA. The Democratic Senate made sure he voted for its new version.

The resulting press release:

Mr. Smith goes to Tallahassee. With a brickbat for RPOF, Crist, Rubio et al

From Tampa Bay Times Adam C. Smith:

You could practically hear the gasp of relief from Florida Republican leaders Monday when ex-GOP chairman Jim Greer pleaded guilty to theft and money laundering charges, sparing them a sordid, two-week trial.

What a trial it could have been, a veritable reality show featuring testimony about lying political leaders, hookers, bitter vendettas, personal slush funds and secret contracts.

The whole sorry story of the Florida Republican Party under Jim Greer is exhibit A on how near-absolute power, combined with astronomical campaign accounts, can and did breed breathtaking arrogance and entitlement, if not outright corruption, among party leaders professing conservatism.

Don't buy the hogwash about this being an unfortunate chapter isolated to the tenure of one buffoonish chairman hand-picked by former Gov. Charlie Crist. That is as much nonsense as Greer's contention that he was the victim of intolerant Republican hard-liners out to destroy him because he supported Crist's moderate ways.

"Jim Greer was just a greedy little b------ who brought too much attention, too much heat, to the point that elected officials and some major donors finally wanted him gone,'' said Allen Cox, the former state party vice chairman who was ousted because of his long-stymied efforts to expose Greer's lavish spending.

"What we learned from Jim Greer is that the party has really morphed into a front for legislative fundraising and front for payments to consultants," Cox said Monday. "Nobody really cared about Jim Greer's spending. All he did was, by wicked excess and spending so much of that money, draw attention to himself. He was being too flashy, too obnoxious, too profligate. Had he not actually diverted funds into (an allegedly secret fundraising company), everything would have been washed over, and nothing would have become of it."

Let's stipulate a few things:

• Gov. Rick's Scott's hands are entirely clean in this mess. A newcomer to Florida politics, he had nothing to do with the state party before or during Greer's 2007-10 tenure. An explosive, ugly trial actually would have served him well, highlighting Crist's close association with Greer. The former governor was supposed to testify Thursday.

• The other statewide elected Republicans in Tallahassee — Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam — are also untainted.

• Crist, now a Democrat, may or may not have been seriously damaged by trial testimony, but he still is tarnished. If he runs for governor again, he has plenty to answer for. He anointed Greer party chairman and ignored repeated red flags while standing by him until the end. And in his legendary enthusiasm for raising campaign money, Crist repeatedly showed suspect judgment in embracing less than savory political benefactors: longtime friend Harry Sargeant, accused of war profiteering and illegal campaign donations; convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein of Fort Lauderdale; and Alan Mendelsohn of Hollywood, now serving a four-year sentence for public corruption.

• Sen. Marco Rubio's name may not have surfaced during the trial, but he epitomized the culture of the state GOP in recent years as much as anyone. As legislative leaders today talk about reforming the campaign finance system, so politicians can no longer operate personal slush funds, they are talking about Rubio and plenty of others.

The leading candidate for president in 2016 used his party credit card to charge everything from groceries to personal flights to family reunion expenses — charges for which he had to reimburse the party after they were exposed by the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald.

Rubio has declined to release two years of earlier party credit card statements, so we don't know the scope of his spending. But he has never denied telling a disenchanted former supporter, political analyst Chris Ingram of Tampa, that during that period he charged to the party card — and later paid off, he told Ingram — $4,000 to $5,000 in new flooring for his home.

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Marco Rubio, the GOP's chosen one, still "has a long way to go" (but he's getting there)

Marco Rubio resists being called the GOP “savior.”

But on Tuesday night, he’s the party’s chosen one.

The Florida senator was picked by Republican Party leaders to rebut President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address — and Rubio will do it in English and Spanish.

Rubio’s speech will be the first of its kind delivered in two languages.

That alone speaks volumes about Rubio’s key role in attracting Hispanics to the GOP and leading its immigration-reform efforts. It earned him a spot on the cover of Time magazine, which called him “the Republican Savior.”

“There is only one savior, and it’s not me,” Rubio responded on Twitter last week, closing his message with the hashtag “#Jesus.”