After the president gave his State of the Union Address last week, the GOP responded with not one response, not two, not three, but FOUR different responses. Yes, because the State of the Union Address is not long enough, the Republican Party decided to prolong it even more. How concise.
Starting off the series of events was the ever disturbed-smiling Cathy McMorris, the congresswoman representing eastern Washington.
Next up, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen representing South Florida (If you speak Spanish, that would probably be helpful).
Third, we have Mike Lee, United States senator for Utah.
And lastly, is United States Senator for Kentucky, Libertarian and Snapchat superstar Rand Paul.
Indeed, it is quite a difficult task to come up with a response to something you have yet to hear. Unfortunately, that is the nature of the game. Regardless, it really shouldn’t have to be said that the response should only come from one person’s mouth.
Maybe the GOP wanted to prove its diversity this year. If that was the case having a congresswoman, a Cuban congresswoman, a Tea Party senator and a Libertarian senator was a pretty darn thorough strategy. Really, politically correct experts around the country were so proud. Using this diverse gang as the faces of the demonized, misogynist, immigrant-hating party may have been a smart move in theory. The execution, however, is a hand-on-forehead, shake-your-head-in-disappointment kind-of-moment.
If an organization is working to portray an all-inclusive, patriotic, American image, they need to ensure the faces of that organization are well-spoken, intelligent, personable individuals. This is why McMorris was not suitable. Talking down to the American public with a kindergarten-teacher tone and a seemingly phony smile does not capture those qualities of a such a delegate. But hey, maybe the Republican Party doesn’t have many women to choose from to represent their point of view in the first place. This must be true in some light considering Ros-Lehtinen’s response wasn’t even given in English. Maybe they were trying to reach the Hispanic and Latino community in a more personable manner.
Mike Lee, didn’t seem to say anything controversial, but let’s be honest it wasn’t noteworthy either. Maybe he was trying to emulate the president’s approach this year.
And finishing off the responses with senator Rand Paul was, once again, not the best move for the Republican Party. Not to continue to come down hard on the Snapchat superstar, but there must have been a better libertarian candidate to address to public.
Maybe instead of preaching four separate messages, the Republican Party should work on working together. If we learned anything from these four responses, it’s that the Republican Party is extremely disjointed. Rather than continue to complain about how Democrats try and solve issues in America, maybe they should come up with solutions themselves. For example, establishing a replacement bill to the Affordable Care Act instead of shutting down the government in opposition would be a great start.
Anyway, in case you missed the twelve hour event, click here for a good synopsis.
shainahayutin 