Knowing that Twitter is a 2016 political battlefield, the Clinton campaign wants to send her supporters to the trenches. Shaun Dakin sends along this email he received after signing up to tweet on behalf of HRC:
Hi there —
Thank you for signing up to tweet for Hillary. We’re glad to know that you have her back.
We’ll be in touch soon with our first email of internet goodies that you can share during the Democratic primary debate on October 13. In the meantime, share your stories about why you’re with Hillary, using #Hillary2016.
Click here to share your first tweet for Hillary!
Thanks,
Hillary for America
The link in the sample tweet (“I just became a grassroots tweeter for @HillaryClinton. Join us! http://hrc.io/1L4aGF3”) takes you to a Twitter-team signup form, which I just filled out. Arming your supporters with messaging they can spread on your behalf is a smart move, and I’m surprised this strategy isn’t more common. It’s a great way to turn supporters into ambassadors within their own social media circles, and it’s also an ask that doesn’t involve a supporter’s credit card. Timely, too, with the first Democratic debate tonight.
Meanwhile, Rand Paul wants you in his life today — all day. His campaign will be live-streaming his time on the campaign trail, which you can follow via UStream or his Facebook page. Says campaign digital strategist Vincent Harris, “It will be the Rand Paul campaign’s version of The Truman Show or EdTV.”
Live video coverage of a candidate’s every move? What could possibly go wrong! As friend-of-the-site Luis Hestres put it, “That’s a candidate with nothing left to lose right there.” Nothing to lose, and potentially some media attention to gain — and Paul needs SOME kind of bump soon. Otherwise, he may need to think about heading home…assuming he still has something to come home to.
If nothing else, full-on live access to the candidate is an interesting take on the idea of political transparency, though we can assume that a certain amount of staging and filtering will be taking place — it’s an integral part of life on the campaign trail whether you’re being filmed or not.
Plus, we can assume the camera won’t be following him into the bathroom, but who knows! Next up: live-streamed pissing matches replace debates. Who has the steadier stream? The firmer grasp on the issues at hand? Can Fiorina beat the boys at their own game, or is this a glass ceiling she just can’t make a mark on? Americans want to know….
– cpd