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Curt Clawson, Straight ShooterA tea-party favorite steps into the limelight.
By Andrew Johnson
Representative Curt Clawson (R., Fla.) wanted a chance to face off against President Obama one-on-one. While it’s not in the setting he initially proposed, Tuesday night may be as close to that match-up as he will get.Last week, it was announced that Clawson, a former college basketball standout and retired auto-parts executive, will deliver the Tea Party’s response to Obama’s State of the Union. Like Joni Ernst, the Iowa freshman senator picked to give the official Republican rebuttal, Clawson is a fairly new face on Capitol Hill: He was just elected to his first full term in Congress, after five months in the seat he captured in a special-election last June. With newcomer status and limited name recognition, Clawson is just as “shocked” as anyone to get the speaking slot, but feels he’s up to it.
“When they called us up, we were pretty surprised,” he tells National Review Online, admitting that he was initially hesitant to accept the invitation since he wasn’t looking for the limelight.
“Coming to Washington, you learn to have a thick hide,” Clawson explains in his consistently brash-but-upbeat tone. “You do something like this, you’re going to get whacked, and that’s not particularly pleasant, but we come to serve and put ourselves out there.”