[View the story "Twitter on Obama's speech and Marco Rubio's thirst" on Storify]

Twitter on Obama's speech and Marco Rubio's thirst

Storified by Maclean's Magazine· Wed, Feb 13 2013 02:39:32

Two speeches were delivered Tuesday night, but only one will be remembered for leaving audiences thirsty for more. President Barack Obama's State of the Union address touched on gun control, climate change, and raising the minimum wage for Americans. The speech can be seen in its entirety below.

State of the Union 2013: President Obama's Complete Speechthenewyorktimes

Most-tweeted #SOTU moment: Middle class opportunity and minimum wage at 9:52p ET = ~24,000 Tweets per minute.Twitter Government

Finally! Obama unwavering in his support for passing immigration reform. Boehner not impressed. #sotuBen English

Man, if looks could kill... #SOTU #Obama #Boehner http://pic.twitter.com/3Grx70vCLogan Rosalez

Judging from John Boehner's expression as he listens to Obama, good thing he's not armed. #SOTUNicholas Kristof

Standing ovation for North Miami woman named Desiline Victor, 102 yrs old, who stood in line for 6 hours to vote last Election Day.Mark Knoller

Desiline Victor, 102-year-old voter http://pic.twitter.com/tq82EUxmHuffPost Politics

Note to all Americans, if there's a 102 year old lady behind you in the voting line, let her cut. #sotuCody Lindquist

Soon after the State of the Union address, Marco Rubio delivered a response on behalf of the Republican Party.

Feel like there are *a lot* of GOP eggs in the Rubio basket at this point.Christopher Hayes

Marco Rubio 2013 State of the Union Response (English Version)thenewyorktimes

Many who tuned in, however, didn't come away with a take-home message from Rubio. Instead the online chatter was mainly about how the senator from Florida found himself suddenly very thirsty in the middle of his speech, awkwardly leaning off-screen to take a sip of water.

RT @davidjacobs: @davewiner finally I understand the value of Vine. Rubio and the water. http://twitpic.com/c389j9Chris Wiest

Marco Rubio takin' a sip of water http://twitpic.com/c388lmBuzzFeed

As soon as he put the bottle down, Twitter was off and running.

Rubio just locked down the thirsty vote.Miles Tache

In fairness to Rubio, we are in the middle of record-setting drought.Jonathan Larsen

Brian Williams just noted that "an impassioned" drink of water is now trending on Twitter, after Rubio's remarks. @NBCNewsAri Melber

Nice plug for Poland Springs by Marco Rubio tonight. 5th most popular bottled water in US. Did $550M in sales last year.darren rovell

Don't tell Marco #Rubio but Poland Springs is pro-union. #gopresponseJohn Fugelsang

#water #rubio http://pic.twitter.com/Yv0rebNbBrandon Contreras

Shorter Rubio Speech: take Mitt Romney's policies and just add water #SOTUEd Schultz

Pretty soon afterwards, Rubio's water bottle had multiple Twitter accounts of its own.

LMAO I JUST CAN'T ANYMORE #gulp http://pic.twitter.com/gHUVeZEBKyle

Sure, Rubio is thirsty ... thirsty for an unshackled American free enterprise system!James Pethokoukis

And before you knew it, everyone was doing it.

All @current commentators gulping water after #Rubio #SOTU rebuttal. #genius http://pic.twitter.com/7k9kTEdRSharon Paley

And thus everything about Marco Rubio will be forgotten except that he desperately needed a gulp of water.aaronwherry

#Thirsty #Rubio #SOTU http://yfrog.com/kkrjjfpGerald Farinas

Rubio believes that proper hydration steals one's soul.Gen JC Christian

Y'all ain't got that water pic up yet. Grrrr. I want a Ryan vs Rubio sip off http://twitpic.com/c389iqCherri

"I don't always drink water, but when I do I prefer to be awkward. Stay #thirsty my friends" -Marco Rubio http://pic.twitter.com/phOFvjp6bill0reilly

Tweets-per-minute peak during #GOPResponse to #SOTU: ~9,200 TPM at 10:43 pm ET, following @MarcoRubio's sip of water.Twitter Government

My hero. RT @darth: OK RT @jakebeckman: Someone photoshop Rubio on the poster for The Water Boy cc @darth thx http://pic.twitter.com/WVLhqQNTMatthew Cain

Marco Rubio, water boy. #Watergate http://pic.twitter.com/jFQstCS5Dr. Jill Biden

In a remarkable feat, Rubio becomes the third member of the losing Romney-Ryan ticket.Josh Dorner

"Don't worry about it Marco, it's all WATER under the bridge." - Rubio's assistantJesse Hawken

So the biggest news story of the night is Marco Rubio drinking water! Thank you twitter.Maribeth Heeran

Get the Best of Maclean’s straight to your inbox.