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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Republican State of the Union response shows off party's softer side | Republican State of the Union response shows off party's softer side |
| (2 months later) | |
| The leadership of the Republican party sought to present a more compassionate face in its official response to President Obama's State of the Union address, stressing opportunity for everybody and promising not to “go back to the way things were”. | The leadership of the Republican party sought to present a more compassionate face in its official response to President Obama's State of the Union address, stressing opportunity for everybody and promising not to “go back to the way things were”. |
| Delivering the first official response by a woman since Kathleen Sebelius in 2008, Cathy McMorris Rodgers presented a folksy picture of American conservatism. She emphasised family and children, and talked of her son Cole born with Down's syndrome, in remarks delivered from a couch positioned strategically by a fireside. | Delivering the first official response by a woman since Kathleen Sebelius in 2008, Cathy McMorris Rodgers presented a folksy picture of American conservatism. She emphasised family and children, and talked of her son Cole born with Down's syndrome, in remarks delivered from a couch positioned strategically by a fireside. |
| McMorris Rodgers is the highest ranking woman in the Republican party, and her elevation to the front of camera was as calculated within a party struggling to attract women voters as senator Marco Rubio's response to the 2013 State of the Union was directed at Latinos. | McMorris Rodgers is the highest ranking woman in the Republican party, and her elevation to the front of camera was as calculated within a party struggling to attract women voters as senator Marco Rubio's response to the 2013 State of the Union was directed at Latinos. |
| McMorris Rodgers framed her criticisms of Obama in positive and forward-looking terms, in stark contrast to much of the toxic rhetoric that has been directed by leading conservatives against the president in recent months. Though she said “the president's healthcare law is not working”, she tempered the attack with the proviso: “No, we shouldn't go back to the way things were”. | McMorris Rodgers framed her criticisms of Obama in positive and forward-looking terms, in stark contrast to much of the toxic rhetoric that has been directed by leading conservatives against the president in recent months. Though she said “the president's healthcare law is not working”, she tempered the attack with the proviso: “No, we shouldn't go back to the way things were”. |
| The goal, she said, was an “America every bit as compassionate as it is successful, our plan is one that dreams big for everyone and turns back no one”. | The goal, she said, was an “America every bit as compassionate as it is successful, our plan is one that dreams big for everyone and turns back no one”. |
| A sharper-edged critique of Obama's fifth State of the Union address was given in the by-now traditional Tea Party response, offered on this occasion by senator Mike Lee of Utah. In a speech sponsored by one of the largest groups, the Tea Party Express, he took the president's main theme of income inequality and threw it forcefully back in his face – blaming growing inequality on union bosses and red tape, same-sex marriage and abortion. | A sharper-edged critique of Obama's fifth State of the Union address was given in the by-now traditional Tea Party response, offered on this occasion by senator Mike Lee of Utah. In a speech sponsored by one of the largest groups, the Tea Party Express, he took the president's main theme of income inequality and threw it forcefully back in his face – blaming growing inequality on union bosses and red tape, same-sex marriage and abortion. |
| The worst culprit was the president's healthcare reforms, he said. “Obamacare, all by itself, is an inequality Godzilla that is depriving Americans of their jobs.” | The worst culprit was the president's healthcare reforms, he said. “Obamacare, all by itself, is an inequality Godzilla that is depriving Americans of their jobs.” |
| Underlining the state of rancour into which relations between the Tea Party supporters and the Republican leadership has descended, Lee also turned his ire on his own party. “Critics might push back by saying my own party is part of the problem. I know because I'm one of those critics. But maybe that's finally starting to change,” he said. | Underlining the state of rancour into which relations between the Tea Party supporters and the Republican leadership has descended, Lee also turned his ire on his own party. “Critics might push back by saying my own party is part of the problem. I know because I'm one of those critics. But maybe that's finally starting to change,” he said. |
| Rand Paul, the libertarian senator from Kentucky, took it upon himself to put out his own personal response on YouTube . “Hope and change needs to be more than just a slogan. Sending money to Washington and expecting central planners to send it back in a way that will grow jobs is foolhardy,” he said. | |
| Minutes after the president stopped speaking, the Republican House speaker, John Boehner, responded with a Vine – a six-second video – in which he said : “I appreciate what the president said tonight but I'm with those Americans who are asking, 'Where are the jobs?'” | |
| Even as Obama was speaking, with Boehner listening diligently albeit somewhat frostily behind him, the Republican leader's staff were putting out hostile tweets. “#SOTU FACT: Pres Obama has repeatedly stood in the way of #americanenergy jobs & independence,” one said. | Even as Obama was speaking, with Boehner listening diligently albeit somewhat frostily behind him, the Republican leader's staff were putting out hostile tweets. “#SOTU FACT: Pres Obama has repeatedly stood in the way of #americanenergy jobs & independence,” one said. |
| #SOTU FACT: Pres Obama has repeatedly stood in the way of #americanenergy jobs & independence http://t.co/NWzWmPwkHx | #SOTU FACT: Pres Obama has repeatedly stood in the way of #americanenergy jobs & independence http://t.co/NWzWmPwkHx |
| The award for most disrespectful tweet went to congressman Randy Weber from Texas who tweeted before proceedings began: “On floor of house waitin on "Kommandant-In-Chef"... the Socialistic dictator who's been feeding US a line or is it "A-Lying?" | The award for most disrespectful tweet went to congressman Randy Weber from Texas who tweeted before proceedings began: “On floor of house waitin on "Kommandant-In-Chef"... the Socialistic dictator who's been feeding US a line or is it "A-Lying?" |
| On floor of house waitin on "Kommandant-In-Chef"... the Socialistic dictator who's been feeding US a line or is it "A-Lying?" | On floor of house waitin on "Kommandant-In-Chef"... the Socialistic dictator who's been feeding US a line or is it "A-Lying?" |