If you have a lemon, make lemonade. If you’re mocked for glaringly grabbing a small bottle of Poland Springs water during a major televised speech and gulping a big gulp loud enough to raise images of you becoming a symbol of 7Eleven’s Big Gulp, then graciously address the ongoing political and comedy cultures’ narrative – and raise big bucks for your PAC with it.
It can be done.
And Florida Senator Marco Rubio is living proof of it:
When Marco Rubio paused to take a sip from a water bottle during his response to the State of the Union this week, it become an instant viral sensation. The Florida Senator has now capitalized on the moment to raise more than $100,000 for his Reclaim America political action committee by selling branded water bottles.
A source close to Rubio tells BuzzFeed that the water bottles, which were sold on the senator’s PAC website to anyone who makes a donation of $25 or more, sold like hotcakes. In the period since they went on sale Wednesday, more than 3,100 of the PAC’s “Marco Rubio Water Bottles” have been sold.
“Send the liberal detractors a message that not only does Marco Rubio inspire you…he hydrates you too,” the donation page reads.
Yep. It’s only “liberals” that noticed it.
Not true but…hey, in our hyperpartisan, hyper ideologist political culture, if it helps to raise money, who cares about accuracy? Whip up the ol’ political resentment machine and anything is possible.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.