CBS News: Marco Rubio's "Water Bottle-Gate" Moment

[Hissyspit]

Source: CBS News

Marco Rubio's "water bottle-gate" moment
February 12, 2013

In the official GOP rebuttal to President Obama's State of the Union speech tonight, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., made a passionate case for the limited role of government in American society. But the gist of his message was lost on the Twittersphere about 11 minutes in, when the visibly overheated senator broke away for a quick sip of water.

Rubio, who had mopped his brow a few times previously during the speech, was in the midst of maligning what he called "false choices" Mr. Obama laid out between big government and big business. But he interrupted his thought to grab a small water bottle apparently at his side, ducking down and nearly out of of the camera frame, before taking a sip and continuing with his remarks.

Commentators immediately pounced: On CNN, Wolf Blitzer was captured saying, "uh oh" as Rubio put the water bottle down again, and gifs of the moment immediately popped up on Twitter.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57569097/marco-rubios-water-bottle-gate-moment

[MrSlayer]

1. He choked in a big moment.

You could see he was nervous as hell, that national stage is daunting for some. He's not a money player.

[elleng]

4. I agree;

doesn't seem to be a 'money player.'

[dballance]

9. He Certainly Wasn't Inspiring any Confidence in Him /nt

[Berlum]

18. He only had 'confidence' in that so-called 'water'

because government insured that Big Water (R) adhered to a few rules to keep the TOXIC chem crud from Big Biz out of it...

ReBuBlicans are either pathetic or hilarious...

[SkyDaddy7]

13. ¿Podría haber sido...

El diablo tratando de salir??

[AAO]

37. La encarnación del demonio.

Sólo debe desaparecer ...

[Xipe Totec]

49. Agujero equivocado. nt

[AlbertCat]

33. He's not a money player.

OR a scientist!

[elleng]

2. Just saw Rubio's speech;

heard pieces of it earlier.

IMO, silly to make a big, or any, deal over the sip of water. Plenty lies in the speech, and the worst visual: His 'smile' at the end, really phony and forced.

[sendero]

19. Thank you..

.... as much as I think Rubio is the Libertarian idiot du jour, I could give two shits about a drink from a water bottle. This is the kind of bogus issue a Republican would gin up.

I didn't hear the speech but given the obviously Libtard slant it should be easy to discredit him on the ground of content and not some meaningless 'failure' to drink from a water bottle in the smoothest possible way.

[winterpark]

32. I agree that it's silly to make a big deal about the stupid water, but it did make me think that

he's sure not ready for prime time. If he wants to be taken as a 'very serious person' he's gonna have to learn to speak thru a dry mouth.

On the other hand he came across as exceptionally insincere and patronizing at the begining of his 'speech'. Trying to modulate his tone & expression like the Pres does but failing miserably. He says in one breath, hey I went to school on govmint money, but none for you. Then, my mom is on medicare, but none for you other peeps.

Came across as the same typical I got mine, screw you, teabagging bullshit. I'm sure the teabaggers ate it up because it was just same old rethuglican crap aimed square at them.

my 2 cents

[Cracklin Charlie]

46. I agree.

Rubio came off as amateurish, and kind of angry, and loose with the truth of what the President had said. The President had just spoken for at least an hour, and he didn't seem to need an emergency sip of water. My grown-up daughter watched with me, and began commenting on Rubio's sweating and dry mouth within the first couple of minutes (something about his lips smacking made her realize he had "the cottons&quot . When he reached for the bottle, she immediately ran to her phone to monitor the twitter feed. We laughed for a long time.

[magical thyme]

64. I agree in principle, but the sad fact is that visuals matter too

Since all he was doing was spewing canned RW talking points, nothing he said was or will be memorable or particularly important, nor is any of it specifically identifiable with him. The GOP clearly intends only to try to slide through what they think will be an acceptable "rubber stamper." Their warped ideology remains unchanged.

But this was his first 'prime time' appearance to prep him for '16 and visuals are what will stick. He's got his 15 minutes to "eloquently" introduce himself as the savior of the GOP; instead he spewed their canned points and made himself into a joke.

I didn't get to see it (working) but from what I've read, the awkward water moment was just a piece of the visual FAIL. Even the CBS article in the OP mentions the preceding "flop sweat."

He was their next great white hope. And just another in a long line of clowns emerging from their clown car to fail in prime time. Nothing wrong with laughing at their latest clown's performance, imo

[dballance]

3. And Paul Ryan Sighs with Relief. He's Been Replaced as the Water-Guy

Can't wait to see what SNL does with this given the parody of Ryan in the debates they did.

[alp227]

5. Marco Rubio = Not Ready for Prime Time Politician.

PERFECT fit for a show like SNL even tho SNL cast members are no longer called "Not Ready for Primetime Players" for 25 or so years.

[SkyDaddy7]

15. Every generation since the mid 80s has said the same thing...

"SNL has not been like it was years ago" yet folks continue to watch & besides the first 4yrs (Probably the best...The cocaine fueled years) it has seen its ratings shoot up the last ten or so years. Not to mention it has always pumped out stars who go on to have very good careers in movies & other ventures. And it has always beat everything in its time slot. The worst years were the early 80s.

[CBGLuthier]

27. I stopped watching when Phil Hartman left

Have seen maybe 20 minutes since. Not so much a commentary on perceived quality as just a lack of interest on my part.

[tblue37]

34. The poster didn't comment on SNL's quality. He was referring to their having

abandoned the "Not Ready for Prime Time" label.

[Left Coast2020]

6. Was there a camera on at Rancid Penis HQ?

I'm sure he had a heart-attack when he saw Ruby-boy crash and burn on live television. Party of Greed couldn't find a candidate at "Candidates R' Us" to save their stickn hides.

[alp227]

7. Search Marco Rubio water in a certain RW site:

This thread has been pulled.
Pulled on 02/12/2013 9:39:07 PM PST by Admin Moderator, reason:

No thanks.

(Edit to add) As crooked as Roger Ailes is, he was RIGHT ON with the Orchestra Pit Theory: "You have two guys on stage and one guy says, "I have a solution to the Middle East problem," and the other guy falls in the orchestra pit, who do you think is going to be on the evening news."

[bathroommonkey76]

8. Here is the gif

[link:|

[xxqqqzme]

11. Is that set supposed to look

like he is in the White House?

[fasttense]

20. Couldn't he have kept the bottle a little closer?

The shtick loses all it's performance art quality if he had just kept the bottle near by and hadn't done that duck and guilty glare at the camera.

Glad to see he provided some comic relief.

[JoePhilly]

25. A closer table would be another example of Big Government.

[Chorophyll]

31. Heh.

[Myrina]

40. Maybe he should have worn a beer-hat

Like Homer Simpson's. Would have at least endeared him to a certain part of the yee-haw population.

[louis-t]

54. What was that 'looking at the camera' thing

While drinking water? Creepy.

[Maeve]

56. he had to look at the camera ALL the time

Remember how silly Bachmann looked staring off-camera for her whole speech? He didn't want to make THAT mistake--he needed to make a NEW one!

[trublu992]

10. I love him I needed a gut busting laugh and he supplied!

[truthisfreedom]

12. 15 minutes of fame.

Buh-bye, Marco. Your party needed you, and you failed them completely. And nobody appreciates your fucking lies about Obama. Not even your own.

[dipsydoodle]

16. Anyone who can lie about their own family background

is beyond trust anyway.

[goclark]

44. He lied?

I missed that one?

[dipsydoodle]

45. He claimed

during one of his anti Cuba rants that his parents left Cuba as a result if the Revolution. It then became apparent that they did in fact leave some years before that.

[Heather MC]

14. Chewing Gum

As zumba instructor, i have discovered that if i chew orbiz peppermint through out my class, i don't need to stop.for water breaks because it keeps my mouth hydrated, poor Ru he apparently doesn't know that trick.

[dipsydoodle]

17. Don't chew too many

that's a laxative.

[Raster]

24. He did appear to be full of shit...

[AAO]

47. He's so full of shit that if he got an enema you could bury him in a matchbox.

[Heather MC]

60. ohh that totally changes the meaning of drop it like its hot

[magical thyme]

62. I just keep a throat lozenge tucked into the side of my mouth

Working in a call center during tax season I may have to talk for 8 hours with few breaks. Staying hydrated up front is best, but the throat lozenge gets me through emergency cotton mouth.

[davidpdx]

21. Rubio's Bobby Jindal moment

Remember when Jindal gave his response to the State of the Union. He too was panned due to how poorly he did.

[customerserviceguy]

22. Well, his fifteen minutes is up. n/t

[Fantastic Anarchist]

23. Yeah, that was extremely weird ...

... the way his eyes still tracked onto the camera sideways.

[JoePhilly]

26. Bobbie "Kenneth the Page" Jindal was probably laughing his ass off.

[SaveAmerica]

61. No!! What did Kenneth do to deserve that!! Leave my

little hill man alone!!

[Ash_F]

28. In Dallas, workers rights groups are organizing just so construction workers can have water breaks

A lot of these workers are Latinos. What's you thoughts on that Rubio? I know being right wing shill-bot is thirsty work too.

[Ineeda]

29. But, wait. It was an Obama set-up.*

Didn't you hear? Somehow, the Obama people got into the studio, cranked the heat up to 110 degrees, and moved the water bottle just out of Marco-boy's reach. But even before that, they oversalted the snacks in the green room.

* Disclaimer: I don't know if this was shot in a studio or if there actually is a green room, but somehow or other, this will be President Obama's fault.

[BeyondGeography]

30. It's really laugh-out-loud funny

He looks like he expects/hopes the camera won't notice. I've never seen anything quite like it.

[DonCoquixote]

35. Once again, as it was for Bobby Jindal

The SOTU is where the young turks of the GOP go to choke, and get hung.

[Ganja Ninja]

36. Marco Rubio - The Water Boy

[AAO]

48. Ma ma my momma, she say stay away from foosball, it's the DEVIL! n/t

[6000eliot]

38. Does "shitting his pants with nerves" somehow="passionate case?"

This is why I stopped watching the mainstream media. Ever since Reagan was elected, whatever I see and hear myself is NEVER confirmed as reality by the talking heads.

[appacom]

42. So true,

Fuck the water bottle - the words he spoke were gobbledegook

[Coyotl]

39. I don't drink water often, but when I do ....

Just for fun: SOTU Rubio Photoshop Contest
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022363789

[jzodda]

41. He looked SOOOO nervous

I almost felt bad for him, except for the vile untruths coming out of his mouth.

You would think they could have put the water closer to where he was lol.

[Javaman]

43. it seems that each and every repuke that gives the rebuttal fails spectacularly.

what could have been an otherwise boilerplate response now has turned into his choke moment where if he ever hoped of running for Prez, now has vanished into a spit take of stupidity. It's apparent that if he can't handle the pressure of a scripted speech and gets the sweats he's basically done. He'll run on impulse power for the remainder of his political career until a Dem comes along and unseats his ass.

[michigandem58]

50. Seriously, who gives a fuck

Unreal some things that are supposed to be news.

The guy said plenty stupid, we don't have to worry about a drink of water.

[Posteritatis]

69. Yeah. So many other actual issues we could go after him over

Distractions like this are, well, distractions.

[catbyte]

51. All Republicans look small when rebutting Obama, starting with Jindal's pathetic performance

in 2009.

[joanbarnes]

52. The President sure looked cool and collected.....

[thucythucy]

53. Ladies and gentleman, I give you:

the "savior" of the Republican Party!

[Evasporque]

55. Purposeful distraction engineered by GOP to take up media bandwidth...

away from reporting on Obama's message....

you all fell for it....it is brilliant....this is the kind of sneaky underhanded shit Republicans do.


And the paid internet trolls are all about seeing through...

[BeyondGeography]

71. And look at their successful track record

Once in the last 25 years they have exceeded 50 percent in a national election. We are sooooo stupid and you are sooooo right.

[iandhr]

57. I am a person who thinks substance is more important then style.

The substance was the same old GOP BS talking points. That is what matters.

Not the fact that he reached for a water bottle.

[bitchkitty]

70. Yah, me too.

But it was pretty funny. And think about it - how much "substance" do the GOP talking points really have?

And it wasn't the reaching for the bottle, at least for me. It was the slurp! LOL

[ForgoTheConsequence]

58. The media has sank people for less.

This will be Rubio's "i have a scream" speech.

[Kingofalldems]

59. He should have worn one of those hats with tubes and such

coming out of it.

[truthisfreedom]

63. He repeatedly asked our permission with his eyes to drink that water.

Personally, I gave him that permission. But he's never going to be president. Never, ever, ever. He's a little kid in a man suit.

[yardwork]

65. What is it with Republicans and props! Empty chairs. Water bottles out of reach.

[kimbutgar]

66. I guess when you lie you get thirsty a lot

Remember Paul Ryan at the debate with VP Biden he was swilling the water like a crazy man. Maybe him and Rubio are on anti depressants for all the lying they do and they have dry mouth.

[AsahinaKimi]

67. The funny thing is ..

No one will remember or care what he said.. it will always be this one visual everyone will remember!


"Mark Rubio? Isn't he the water bottle sipping guy?"

[colorado_ufo]

68. Actually, he really didn't say anything.

The water-sip-thingy was the only moment that made this miserable, boring speech bearable.