Republican Response to the State of the Union

Impact

Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) will deliver the Republican Party's official response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday, both in English and Spanish. Rubio, who is considered a potential 2016 presidential candidate, was elected in 2010 when the Tea Party wave originated by the 2009 passage of President Obama's health care bill helped Republicans gain control of the House of Representatives. The historic bilingual rebuttal is an obvious attempt to lure Hispanics voters who in 2008, 2010 and 2012 flocked to the Democratic tent alienated by the GOP's hard line on immigration and other social issues. Rubio, however, will be sharing the spotlight with another 2016 potential presidential candidate, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who will be delivering the Tea Party response to the SOTU.