Free Republic

There is nothing the liberal establishment hates more than members of the minority groups it considers its political chattel who step off the grounds of the progressive plantation. And right now, it is beginning a long-term de-legitimization campaign, with its media overseers fully engaged, because that Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz have dared to forget their place. The liberal establishment is driven not just by anger. It’s driven by fear. It’s easy to see why the media blew up the story of Marco Rubio’s radical decision to take a drink during his state of the union response – he gave...

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Saturday panned a reported immigration reform proposal from President Obama, saying it would be “dead on arrival” in Congress. “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,” said Rubio in a statement. His response followed a report in USA Today on Saturday which said the Obama administration has prepared a draft plan that includes a provision to allow illegal immigrants to obtain green cards within eight years. The proposal would create a “Lawful Prospective Immigrant”...

Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio's pause to take a drink of water during his rebuttal to President Obama's State-of-the-Union speech was declared “a possible career ender” by CNN's Wolf Blitzer. “Voters may tolerate a lot from their prospective leaders,” Blitzer observed. “We've learned that diddling interns is okay. A bogus birth certificate may be worth a few snickers, but does not seem to undermine our confidence in a man's leadership capabilities. However, the jarring interruption of a high-profile speech by a moment of thirst would appear to be the type of thing that raises serious questions about fitness to serve.”...

On Wednesday's NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams proclaimed that Florida Senator Marco Rubio taking a sip of water during his response to the State of the Union was "the televised moment from last night that just might live on forever." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump] Williams expounded: "Well, it's one of the cruelest aspects of politics in the television age. No matter how well-crafted the content, no matter how thoughtful a person you are, it's the television moments, the superficial, purely visual moments that are often remembered forever instead. And that will certainly...

Sen. Marco Rubio’s delivery of the GOP response to the State of the Union shows he’s a force the Democrats must reckon with, says former White House advisor Van Jones. The Florida Republican poses a “dangerous” political threat to Democrats because of his keen ability to emotionally connect with voters, Jones said.

The liberal hosts on MSNBC just couldn't get enough of watching U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio reach for a glass of water and take a sip during his rebuttal of President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, airing the snippet a staggering 155 times during the Wednesday broadcast schedule. Other cable news networks showed the footage far less often. CNN aired it 34 times, and Fox News Channel played it just 12 times -- all of which took place on “The O’Reilly Factor” and “Hannity” while the hosts discussed the media's obsession with the Florida Republican's “watergate” incident. MSNBC's total...

<p>A parched Marco Rubio's awkward reach for a drink of Poland Spring water during his Republican rebuttal to the president's State of the Union address Tuesday night became an instant online sensation. Predictably, the video clips, jokes and Twitter hashtags that have become so familiar in such situations took the social Internet by storm.</p>

Freepers! Marco Rubio is just great and what a sense of humor. This is exactly how to respond to liberal hubris and their synthetic, hibrow, intellect. You need this water bottle if only to get Marco notice from now on. He is going to be Yuge and you need to support him.

This a darn good idea. I like that Rubio is hitting right back at the media.

Former presidential candidate Ron Paul reacted to President Obama's SOTU address with John Stossel on Fox Business Network. Paul said in the speech, "certainly we didn't get any answers tonight" to the key issues facing the nation. "Everything on the surface looks like it's welfare-ism and warfare-ism. But I think underneath there's a smoldering desire that is growing by leaps and bounds that saying that a lot of people in this country have had enough of it..."

Yep, Sen. Rand Paul - some Libertarian leanings and all - (and not all bad, either, especially with his middle of the road approach on foreign policy, him being neither interventionist nor isolationist) is certainly not a shill for the GOP-e... and we have had enough of that. Rand Paul will deliver the Tea Party, while Rubio gives us Dem lite.

I will not vote for Marco Rubio as Vice President if Mitt Romney selects him to run on his ticket.  He is NOT constitutionally eligible to be President or Vice President, and I would be a damn hypocrite in holding my ire and giving him my vote after working as hard as possible to educate people on Barack Obama’s ineligibility.Call me a Birther, call me a Tea Party hick, call me an “extremist” or racist, I could give a flying forgery.  I just don’t care anymore.  I’m not going to be like one of those liberals who complain about...

As he walked into the Washington Court Hotel today, Sen. Marco Rubio was greeted by members of a business group from Des Moines. "Hopefully you'll see more of Iowa," a woman told him. Rubio laughed. Pictures were taken. Wink, wink. But as he charmed his guests, Rubio also delivered a lengthy and substantive speech about U.S. policy and his vision of American exceptionalism. "If we decline, who rises?" he asked a room full of Democrats and Republicans. A question and answer session that followed pulled out the news of the day when the subjected turned to immigration. Rubio sought to...

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) aims to have his alternative to the DREAM Act proposal on paper in the next few weeks and passed by the end of the summer. "Our goal is to pass something this summer in time for kids who plan to go to school this fall," Rubio press secretary Alex Conant said Monday. Rubio's proposal would provide non-immigrant visas to illegal immigrants' children who attend college or serve in the military. "So just like lots of people come to the United States on work visas or on student visas or tourism visas or whatever, this would be...

WASHINGTON -- A few weeks ago, Daniela Pelaez visited Washington. A valedictorian at North Miami Senior High, the 18-year-old had just learned she no longer faced deportation, thanks in part to congressional intervention in her immigration case. She visited the nation’s capital the same week a Fox News Latino poll found Hispanic voters favor President Barack Obama six-to-one over any of the Republican presidential hopefuls. Suddenly, there was new life in the DREAM Act, an immigration bill that offers a path toward citizenship for young people like Daniela who came to the U.S. illegally with their parents. Enter Florida Sen....

Marco Rubio Says Some Conservatives ‘Harsh and Intolerable’ On Immigration By Liz Goodwin | The Ticket "For those of us who come from the conservative movement, we must admit that there are those among us who have used rhetoric that is harsh and intolerable, inexcusable," Rubio said at a conference for the conservative Hispanic Leadership Network. "We must admit, myself included, that sometimes we've been too slow in condemning that rhetoric." Rubio, a Republican senator to Florida who is often floated as a potential vice presidential nominee for the party in 2012, was interrupted by two protesters raising awareness about...

Newt Gingrich's decision today to bash Mitt Romney for hiring former Charlie Crist loyalists and employees doesn't seem to be sitting well with Sen. Marco Rubio, who drove Crist out of the Republican Party before beating him at the polls in 2010. Said Rubio: "Mitt Romney is no Charlie Crist. Romney is a conservative. and he was one of the first national Republican leaders to endorse me. He came to Florida, campaigned hard for me, and made a real difference in my race."

Many Republicans see Marco Rubio as a rising star who can help them win over the fast-growing Hispanic population, but the Florida senator says toned-down rhetoric on the hot-button issue of immigration would be more likely to bring those voters to the GOP. "The policies are important, but the rhetoric is sometimes the impediment," Mr. Rubio said in an interview. "Sometimes—and I'm not pointing fingers at anyone—the way the message is communicated is harmful and has hurt Republicans."

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, whom every presidential candidate would love to have as a running mate, sounds a lot like a Rick Perry supporter when it comes to the issue of tuition help for immigrants who grew up in the United States long after they were brought here illegally. [snip] "I think there’s general consensus behind the idea that we need to do something to help out kids who were brought here by our parents longtime ago and who have grown up in this country," Rubio said a few weeks ago, echoing comments and sentiments he made on the campaign...