Why the GOP is Setting Itself up for a Rubio Letdown

Vcitor Landa, NewsTaco

I don’t envy Marco Rubio. Especially not tonight, sandwiched as he will be between the President and the Tea Party. I don’t envy the attention, or the hyped expectation. But I’ll be watching tonight as he delivers the GOP response to the President’s State of the Union address.

The novelty is that his response on behalf of the loyal Republican opposition will be done in two languages; he recorded a Spanish version of the response that will be broadcast simultaneously with his live English speech.

It’s all part of a novel GOP approach: to bring out a shiny new attitude and language that’s designed to attract Latino’s to the conservative fold, where they reckon Latinos rightfully belong. Rubio was an obvious choice for their State of the Union retort. He’s a young, Latino up-and-comer who wows GOP audiences with his communication skills. The Tea Party claim him as one of their own and he is seen as a moderate on immigration. He’s the lure on the hook the GOP has been setting since the presidential election slapped them with a dose of electoral reality.

And that’s a lot of pressure. Too much so, I think, but not for the young Senator. I think the GOP has been putting too much pressure on their own expectations. They’re setting themselves up for a letdown. And it’s their own fault.

Many Latino GOPers whom I’ve talked to have told me so, they see the letdown coming as clearly as they see the GOP leadership’s blindside. What many Latino Republicans complain about is that there has been no meaningful change. There’s been a memo that directs Republicans to soften their language; there’s been an outward softening of immigration rhetoric; there’ve been attempts to reach Spanish speaking Latinos on social media; and even the conservative spin machine, Fox News, has started to re-package itself. But, to quote a GOP friend, “that’s just lipstick on a pig.”

The truth is that GOP leadership has not changed. The people who were at the top of the party decision-making structure are still there now, making the same decisions. The top Latinos, who steered the party on Latino matters in the past, have not left the helm. So there’s been no substantial change. All they’ve done is put on a sombrero and sa-rah-pee.

And that brings me back to Rubio. The State of the Union rebuttal is not the port that launches successful political futures. Bob Dole was the last response speech maker who became a presidential candidate. So we can scratch that expectation. That only leaves two things: accurately conveying the opposition’s point of view, and attracting Latinos.

On the first item, no doubt he’ll do well – he’s a very capable and charismatic speaker. But, his response will be followed by a Tea Party response delivered by Sen. Rand Paul. The only thing that will do for the GOP is muddy their intent and diminish Rubio’s presence. Scratch two.

That only leaves the Latino thing. And Latinos are not going to be drawn by sombreros and sarapes (despite what the GOP leadership may think).

Spanish or no Spanish, Latinos will be listening to Rubio’s substance. And given the lack of fundamental change within the GOP thinking, the substance won’t resonate.

Delivering that speech? It’s not an enviable position to be in.