Marco Rubio somewhat infamously interrupted his 2013 State of the Union response to take a swig of water. It wasn't the first such notable sip by the Florida senator, and it's far from the last, reports Ben Schreckinger in a nearly 1,800-word Politico piece solely on Rubio's purported "water tic." Schreckinger recalls Rubio's much-lauded May 2008 speech given upon his retirement as Florida's House speaker in which, as video shows, he stopped throughout to take noisy sips from a water- and ice-filled Styrofoam cup. "Rubio's need for constant hydration is a bodily quirk that impinges on his political life," asserts Schreckinger. An unnamed associate says it's really not about hydration at all, likening the water to a "security blanket."
What does Rubio say? Schreckinger points to a November New Yorker article in which Rubio said his throat continually "feels dry," citing adult-onset allergies that he has suffered from (due to extensive travel, suggested his doctor) since 2011. A Rubio rep gave only this comment for the article: "Politico has lost its mind." That doesn't stop Schreckinger from asserting that the timeline shows his penchant for water can't really be due to circa 2011 allergies; from digging into the particulars of Rubio's water needs (he reportedly requests water in a stemless glass only when giving speeches); and from noting that on the rare event it's absent, Rubio seems to have bumbling moments. Read Schreckinger's piece, which also touches on Rubio's perspiration "distraction," at Politico. (Donald Trump has given Rubio a gift for his "sweating.")
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