Rubio's speech to focus on the middle class
When he delivers the Republican responseto President Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., will focus on the middle class, top aides to the senator tell CBS News.
Specifically, Rubio will focus on why the president's call for bigger government is bad for the middle class and why limited government is good for the middle class. He will argue that Republicans have better ideas for the middle class. He will lay out the Republican agenda and argue that it is focused on pro-growth policies that will create new middle class jobs - including immigration reform, regulatory reform, ending Obamacare, and giving Americans the skills they need to fill middle class jobs via education reform. He will tout education bills that he plans to roll out later this week, which have to do with school choice (K-12) and student loans (higher education).
Aides say that the tone of the speech will be similar to that of past speeches Rubio has given: optimistic, with a nod to the American dream and American exceptionalism. But they say he will also take on the president's inaugural address, which they described as a "call for big government." Rubio will draw a "sharp contrast" with the president on the proper role of government.
They say Rubio will address immigration reform, but mainly as a vehicle for growing the economy.
Rubio will be pretaping a Spanish-language version of his speech earlier in the day, so it can run on Spanish-language stations at the same time he is delivering his remarks in English.
Rubio's speech timed out at 15 minutes when he rehearsed on Thursday. He was still tinkering with it over the weekend.
