Video of Rubio’s ‘Slurp Heard Round the World‘.
The gist from the Morning Shows: Obama is laying a devious trap for Republicans by embracing a raft of policies the public widely supports.
The Senate Judiciary Committee convenes a hearing on immigration reform. Witnesses include Janet Napolitano, Jose Antonio Vargas, and Steve Case. TPM’s Benjy Sarlin is there and will be providing updates at TPMLivewire.
I had a hard time getting a clear read on this State of the Union address. But here are a few thoughts.
We were prepped to think this speech would be aggressive, confrontational, sharp, a shower of adjectives. My sense was a bit different. I found the tone aggressive, more declarative, less exploratory. The subtext was: I’ve made up my mind. And yet it was actually replete with references to potential points of bipartisan compromise — virtually every one he tried to strike over his first four years in office. The tone was simply different. I’d describe it like this: We can do this together. But if you won’t, whatever guys, I’m done with that. Read More
Got questions on the State of the Union address? I’ll do my best to answer. I’ll be doing a TPMPrime Live Chat today at 4 PM. Get your questions in now and join me at 4 PM.
It got missed in the build up to the State of the Union speech last night. But a whole new front opened in the GOP Civil War. Haley Barbour is asking GOP big money donors to cut off giving to Club for Growth, one of the main drivers behind the candidates Karl Rove’s ‘Victory’ project is trying to shut down.
Poland Spring: You Love Me! You Really Love Me!
Twelve hours after State of the Union night came to a close, my sense is that the chattering class has reached a consensus about Marco Rubio’s awkward Big Gulp: specifically, that it genuinely did drown out the message he was trying to communicate to the public; and that this is an unfortunate outcome for the same talented pol whose convention speech got flushed down the memory hole last year when Clint Eastwood yelled at a chair.
The consensus is somewhat silly in as much the same people who reached it have all the power in the world to flip it on its head if they think that’s important. But assuming they don’t, I’d like to plant a flag for the counterintuitive argument that Rubio’s unexpected thirstiness was the best thing that could have happened to him. Read More
In fundraising pitch, GOP Rep. brags he was the first to call Obama a “socialist”.