The depth (pun intended) of the American political attention span today:
SOTU: Rubio and 'Water-gate'
Wednesday, 13 February 2013 06:07:00 PST
USA Today: Twitter “blew up when the Florida Republican reached for a bottle of Poland Spring water as he was outlining the GOP's vision to help the middle class. His speech text ran for five pages, about half the length of Obama's remarks.”
Rubio paused mid-speech, leaned over out of frame, grabbed a small Poland Spring bottle, took a swig of water, swished it, put it back down, and continued.
More: “Twitter said there were about 9,200 tweets per minute at about 10:43 p.m. ET, after Rubio's sip of water. For a short time, #watergate and Poland Spring were trending on the micro-blogging site.”
Politico’s provocative headline: “Marco Rubio’s drinking problem.” From the story: “[T]he Florida senator appeared a little sweaty and dry-mouthed at mid-speech, taking an awkward swig from a bottle of water that had been placed off-camera. Rubio handled the hullabaloo with some humor, later tweeting a picture of the water bottle.”
The New York Daily News: “Thirsty Sen. Marco Rubio makes waves with awkward grab for water.” From the story: “Thirsty for attention? Or just thirsty? Sen. Marco Rubio made headlines for all the wrong reasons Tuesday night as he delivered the Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union address. It was supposed to be the moment that propelled Rubio into the top tier of potential presidential candidates. Instead, social media exploded with jokes after Rubio awkwardly paused, reached for a bottle of Poland Spring water and took a swig to douse a case of dry mouth.”
For Rubio and his team’s part, they seem to be rolling with it. Rubio went on ABC this morning and made light of it, taking a drink again. “I needed water; what am I going to do, you know? It happens. God has a funny way of reminding us we’re human.”
On CBS, he said: “I'm just glad the water was nearby. I don't know what I would have done without it."
Rubio brought a bottle of water with him on another appearance, too. This one on FOX. “My mouth got dry and I had to get some water,” he said, noting that he’d rather “take the hit” for getting water than not be able to say the rest of the words in his speech. "My mouth got dry, what can I say ... I brought some with me now." He then took a swig. |
