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G.O.P. Aims for a Calmer Face, Except Maybe for That Wild-Eyed Rocker G.O.P. Puts On a Calmer Face, Except for One Wild-Eyed Rocker
(about 1 hour later)
WASHINGTON — In the wake of their electoral drubbing in November, Republicans were seeking an image reboot at President Obama’s State of the Union address, a new face that would be both more positive and less strident, youthful and multicultural but also quietly constructive and respectful. WASHINGTON — In the wake of their electoral drubbing in November, Republicans sought an image reboot at President Obama’s State of the Union address, a new face that would be both more positive and less strident, youthful and multicultural but also quietly constructive and respectful.
Then there was Ted Nugent, the 64-year-old rocker who once told the president to “suck on my machine gun.”Then there was Ted Nugent, the 64-year-old rocker who once told the president to “suck on my machine gun.”
Mr. Nugent, a gun-rights brawler who was invited to watch Mr. Obama’s address as the guest of another firebrand, Steve Stockman, a Republican representative from Texas, seemed to personify the conflict still lurking within the Republican Party as its leaders look to expand their appeal. In a House chamber filled conspicuously with the victims of gun violence and family members still grieving for lost loved ones, Mr. Nugent seemed like a provocation, a saber-toothed tiger invited to a garden party. Mr. Nugent, the gun-rights brawler, sat stone-faced high up in the House spectators’ gallery as the president pressed an agenda that went far beyond gun control. Invited to watch as the guest of another firebrand, Steve Stockman, a Republican representative from Texas, his crossed arms and stern visage seemed to capture the conflict still lurking within the Republican Party as its leaders look to expand their appeal.
There were no shouts of “you lie!” Tuesday night, no overt moments of disrespect beyond the usual partisan responses to policy. But in a House chamber filled conspicuously with the victims of gun violence and family members still grieving for lost loved ones, Mr. Nugent seemed like a provocation, a saber-toothed tiger invited to a garden party.
“I tend not to engage in inflammatory displays like that,” said Representative Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, a Republican moderate who invited a young constituent he had nominated for the United States Naval Academy.“I tend not to engage in inflammatory displays like that,” said Representative Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, a Republican moderate who invited a young constituent he had nominated for the United States Naval Academy.
Such dissonant notes reverberated throughout the marble halls of the Capitol all day Tuesday, from the office suite of the House speaker to the floor of the Senate to a rancorous roll call for Chuck Hagel at the usually decorous Senate Armed Services Committee. It reflected the very real struggle within the party between Republicans who believe tangible adjustments are needed, in policy and tone, and an equally confident core that maintains the party’s problem is that it has not been conservative enough.Such dissonant notes reverberated throughout the marble halls of the Capitol all day Tuesday, from the office suite of the House speaker to the floor of the Senate to a rancorous roll call for Chuck Hagel at the usually decorous Senate Armed Services Committee. It reflected the very real struggle within the party between Republicans who believe tangible adjustments are needed, in policy and tone, and an equally confident core that maintains the party’s problem is that it has not been conservative enough.
To be sure, the scene on the Senate floor as the president prepared to enter was a tableau of comity. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. chatted with one of his fiercest critics, Senator Jeff Sessions, Republican of Alabama. Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, whispered in the ear of Denis R. McDonough, the new White House chief of staff. Mr. Nugent sat in the top corner of the spectators’ gallery on the Republican side. He stood as the president entered but did not clap. “He’ll continue this demagoguery,” Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin, said of the president after the speech. “He’ll still waste everybody’s time on gun control — it’s not going to pass — and distract Americans from what we really need to do.”
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida was tapped to give the official Republican response to the president’s address, taking the unprecedented step for the party of preparing to speak in English and in Spanish to reach out to the Latino voters who so forsook the party in November. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida gave the official Republican response, taking the unprecedented step for the party of speaking in English and in Spanish to reach out to Latino voters who forsook the party in November.
“Despite our differences, I know that both Republicans and Democrats love America,” he was to say, according to excerpts provided in advance of his speech. “I pray we can come together to solve our problems, because the choices before us could not be more important.” “Despite our differences, I know that both Republicans and Democrats love America,” he said, in an address that spoke passionately of his own immigrant background and economic rise. “I pray we can come together to solve our problems, because the choices before us could not be more important.”
But before Mr. Rubio spoke from the august Capitol cloisters of House Speaker John A. Boehner, the speaker grabbed attention when he told reporters he would like “a little foreplay first” from the president before embracing a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants in an immigration bill. The lasting image of Mr. Rubio’s address may not have been his youthful face and stately backdrop but an odd lurch off camera mid-speech for a quick drink of water. He recovered from the glitch, but it marred an otherwise smooth performance.
Republican senators hailed Mr. Rubio, their new spokesman and 2016 presidential hopeful, in terms that spoke to broader hopes for the party: youth, vitality, thoughtfulness. But before Mr. Rubio spoke from the well-appointed Capitol cloisters of House Speaker John A. Boehner, the speaker grabbed attention when he told reporters that he would like “a little foreplay first” from the president before embracing a path to citizenship for undocumented workers in an immigration bill.
“He’ll be presenting an agenda he believes the Republican Party should be pursuing, a more positive agenda,” Senator McCain said. Fellow Republican senators hailed Mr. Rubio, their new spokesman and a 2016 presidential hopeful, in terms that spoke to broader hopes for the party: youth, vitality, thoughtfulness and an affirmative agenda that was not just oppositional.
Still, Mr. Rubio voted Tuesday against reauthorizing a more muscular Violence Against Women Act, an echo of his own roots on the right flank of his party. “Obviously, we know we’ve got to be for things,” said Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona. Still, Mr. Rubio voted Tuesday against reauthorizing a more muscular Violence Against Women Act, an echo of his own roots on the right flank of his party. He was one of only 22 senators to oppose the bill, which 23 Republicans and 55 Democrats endorsed.
He was one of only 22 senators to oppose the bill, which 23 Republicans and 55 Democrats endorsed. The Republicans sent out another mixed message earlier in the day when Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, the House Republican Conference chairwoman, launched the party’s first official Spanish-language Twitter account, @GOPespanol. But last week, when House Republicans tried to begin a broader “G.O.P. en Español” program, which was to distribute Republican reactions to the State of the Union in Spanish, the most vociferous anti-illegal immigration voices in the House objected.
The Republicans sent out another mixed message earlier in the day when Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, the House Republican Conference chairwoman, kicked off the party’s first official Spanish-language Twitter account, @GOPespanol. “There’s a conflicting message that comes out from the Republicans if we want to recognize the unifying power of English, and meanwhile, we send out communications in multiple languages,” Representative Steve King, Republican of Iowa, told National Journal. Official business and documents, he said, need to be in English.
But last week, when House Republicans tried to begin a broader GOP en Español program, which was to distribute Republican reactions to the State of the Union in Spanish, the most vociferous anti-illegal immigration voices in the House objected. The Tea Party’s response to the State of the Union address fell to Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, no shrinking violet but a softer voice than last year’s respondent, Herman Cain, or the inaugural choice in 2011, Representative Michele Bachmann, who looked away from the camera as she denounced the “16,500 I.R.S. agents in charge of policing President Obama’s health care bill” and hailed “the early days of a history-making turn” in American governance.
“There’s a conflicting message that comes out from the Republicans if we want to recognize the unifying power of English, and meanwhile, we send out communications in multiple languages,” Representative Steve King, Republican of Iowa, told National Journal. Meanwhile, in the Senate Armed Services Committee — a panel that for decades has been run with bipartisan decorum — Senator Ted Cruz, a freshman Republican from Texas, all but called President Obama’s nominee for defense secretary, Mr. Hagel, an extremist with ties to shady organizations.
Official business and documents, he said, need to be in English. The Tea Party’s response to the State of the Union address fell to Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, no shrinking violet but a softer voice than last year’s respondent, Herman Cain, or the inaugural choice in 2011, Representative Michele Bachmann, who looked away from the camera as she denounced the “16,500 IRS agents in charge of policing President Obama’s health care bill” and hailed “the early days of a history-making turn” in American governance. “I will point out that right now this committee knows absolutely nothing about the personal compensation Chuck Hagel received in 2008 and 2009 or 2010,” Mr. Cruz said. “We do not know, for example, if he received compensation for giving paid speeches at extreme or radical groups.”
Mr. Paul dismissed any suggestion that a Tea Party response separate from the Republican response represented party division. “That’s created by the media,” he said. But, he added, his criticism would hit Democrats and Republicans alike, a promise supported by excerpts from his speech.
“Both parties have been guilty of spending too much, of protecting their sacred cows, of back-room deals in which everyone up here wins, but every taxpayer loses,” he was to say. “It is time for a new bipartisan consensus.”
Meanwhile, in the Senate Armed Services Committee — a panel that for decades has been run with bipartisan decorum — Senator Ted Cruz, a freshman Republican from Texas, all but called President Obama’s nominee for defense secretary, Chuck Hagel, an extremist with ties to shady organizations.
“I will point out that right now this committee knows absolutely nothing about the personal compensation Chuck Hagel received in 2008 and 2009 or 2010,” Mr. Cruz said.
“We do not know, for example, if he received compensation for giving paid speeches at extreme or radical groups.”
That yielded a stinging rebuke from the usually soft-spoken Senator Bill Nelson, Democrat of Florida, who said Mr. Cruz, a Tea Party favorite, had gone “over the line” and “impugned the patriotism of the nominee.”That yielded a stinging rebuke from the usually soft-spoken Senator Bill Nelson, Democrat of Florida, who said Mr. Cruz, a Tea Party favorite, had gone “over the line” and “impugned the patriotism of the nominee.”
Republicans still held out hope that the lasting image of the night would not be such backbiting but a new tone of cooperation where possible, principle where vital — but always civility. Republicans still held out hope that the lasting image of the night would not be such backbiting but a new tone of cooperation. “Good people will show that we’re a governing party,” said Senator Mike Johanns, a Nebraska Republican. “You win elections because people believe you can make a difference.”
“Good people will show that we’re a governing party,” said Senator Mike Johanns, a soft-spoken Nebraska Republican. “You win elections because people believe you can make a difference.”

Ashley Parker and Jeremy Peters contributed reporting.