State of the Union: Why so many GOP responders?
There will be multiple Republican responses to President Obama鈥檚 State of the Union address 鈥� so many that voters might need a scorecard to keep them all straight.
The will be Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R) of Washington. She was chosen in part to counter Democratic charges that the GOP wages a 鈥渨ar on women.鈥� As the head of the House Republican Conference, Representative Rodgers is the highest-ranking House GOP female. She鈥檚 also the mother of three young kids and the first person in her family to graduate from college.
Then there is the official Spanish-speaking party responder. That will be Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R) of Florida. She鈥檒l essentially read a translation of Rodgers鈥檚 words, with personal anecdotes and references changed or edited out.
In recent years, the tea party wing of the GOP has proffered its own SOTU comments, and that鈥檚 continuing this year. Sen. Mike Lee (R) of Utah gets the nod here. Plus, this year Sen. Rand Paul (R) of Kentucky is offering his personal response. We鈥檙e sure it鈥檚 just a coincidence that he鈥檚 a possible 2016 presidential contender.
There will also be somewhat less formal Republican Party comments from a host of tweeters and designated surrogates around the country. The National Republican Congressional Committee, for instance, is running a 鈥溾�� page on Twitter.
The obvious question about all this is 鈥渨hy"? Responding to a State of the Union speech isn鈥檛 easy: The president gets a grand setting with a large audience, and the responder gets a small room and static camera angles. Nor do the responders usually get much time to practice, which can lead to awkward moments. Last year, a thirsty Sen. Marco Rubio (R) of Florida made an ill-advised duck and grab for a water bottle, leading to endless mockery on social media.
There鈥檚 also little evidence that a responder gets a political boost. Rep. Paul Ryan (R) of Wisconsin gave the response in 2011, and that worked out well for him, at least in terms of boosting him onto a (losing) national ticket. But 2010? Then-Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) of Virginia. Yes, that鈥檚 the same Bob McDonnell who was just indicted on charges of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of illegal gifts.
When it comes to SOTU response, 鈥淭he star of the moment rarely lasts as a star,鈥� Jennifer Rubin on her 鈥淩ight Turn鈥� Washington Post blog.
But the context for the opposition party response in this forum may be changing. That鈥檚 the quick answer to 鈥渨hy now鈥�? The rise of social media and Web-based broadcasting means that even unofficial responders can reach a much larger, and more like-minded, audience than before. For instance, Senator Paul plans to blast out clips of his remarks on Twitter and Facebook to supporters around the country.
The Republican Party鈥檚 current internal divisions also play a role in the multiple responses. Tea party conservatives are competing with establishment Republicans for a bigger say in party policies. The libertarian hero Paul is trying to cut his own path to presidential contention.
Of course, the multiplicity of voices may make the GOP look divided. But that should not matter too much, according to Seth Masket, a political scientist at the University of Denver, unless the tea party faction bolts and fields its own candidate for 2016.
鈥淸T]hat鈥檚 highly unlikely, and we鈥檝e seen plenty of instances of intra-party squabbling among Republicans in recent years even while they rally around their presidential nominee,鈥� on the 鈥淢ischiefs of Faction鈥� political science blog.
The excitement quotient of these responses remains to be seen. But in general, the politicians given the job of SOTU follow-up could do a much better job of kicking things up a notch.
That would be good for the nation as a whole, according to Arthur Lupia, a professor of political science at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. That鈥檚 because a SOTU response is a rare opportunity for opposition parties to deliver an unfiltered message on all major networks in prime time.
He offers three suggestions. First, responding parties should remember that they are participating in a television program and marry their message with modern production techniques, instead of droning on while facing a camera. Second, they could add an audience to perk things up. Third, they should mix in lots of energetic young people to provide a contrast to the largely older audience that the president addresses on Capitol Hill.
鈥淏ecause most citizens experience the SOTU response as a television program, we shouldn鈥檛 be surprised when they judge it harshly as such. The parties can do better,鈥� on "The Monkey Cage鈥� political science blog.
