According to TweetCongress, she’s the second-most followed member of Congress on Twitter, although Sen. Jim DeMint is quickly gaining on her. Despite having 36,691 followers as of the morning of March 8, McCaskill is only following one person. That screams arrogance. It’s as if she’s saying, “It’s all about ME. I don’t care about you.”
Twitter is a tool for two-way communications. It’s where elected officials can feel the pulse of the electorate. Yet McCaskill uses it to tell her followers about University of Missouri basketball and plans for breakfast.
As I’ve said many times, the Internet is an important tool for campaigns and elected officials to do what they want to do. From the website, to Facebook, to Twitter and email, there are endless ways to connect with voters and keep people informed. But it’s more than just letting people know what you’re doing. It’s about hearing what’s on other people’s minds too. A politico who is not following people is like that jerk at a party who has to be the center of attention, who only talks about his/her self, and who could give a damn about other people.
Yes, this is a representative democracy. People are elected to cast votes because nationwide direct democracy isn’t an effective form of government. However, because someone is elected to lead, that doesn’t mean they can stop listening to people. While McCaskill may well be browsing papers from across Missouri and brought concerns from home received by her staffers, her Twitter account is like an alarm going off.
Having a 36,000-to-one followers-to-following ratio says that she might be just a little out of touch with involved voters in the Show-Me State.
Together Jason and I developed a 10 page white paper to introduce South Carolina’s Republican legislators to social media. This is the first of many, which will dive in deeper to explain each social network, its value to candidates and elected officials, and how to use it effectively and strategically.
Here is one section of our paper titled “You Can No Longer Afford To Ignore Social Media.” We invite you to fill in the form at the bottom of this sample and a link to the whole white paper will be emailed directly to you with with in minute.
The Benefits of Social Media in Politics
Social Media tools are all about connecting and organizing. In the not too recent past, reaching voters centered on newspaper advertising, 30-second radio spots, direct mail, community events and going door-to-door by relying on instantly out-of-date voter files. Actively recruiting volunteers, soliciting donations and securing support went the same way. Social media isn’t going to replace these tactics, which all remain an important part of campaign strategy.
But having Facebook and Twitter profiles, and a Facebook fan site, you reach out and remain in touch with supporters and average voters who are interested in the election or current policy. You and/or a member of staff can list events where the candidate or official will be, organize fundraising drives and keep followers apprised of campaign goings-on, policy stances and current legislation. People who have decided to keep up with you will see the updates in a regular feed.
This week, the former speechwriter for former Gov. Jim Hodges – and current associate with Qorvis Communications — Wyeth Ruthven, came up with an analysis of Twitter use in the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial campaigns, as well as the special election for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts.
No matter your political stripe, it’s possible to take some lessons from what he put together. One main takeaway is to look at everything Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds did, and do the opposite.
According to the analysis, the Deeds campaign had three separate Twitter accounts – one for the candidate (@CreighDeeds), one for attacks on Republican nominee Bob McDonnell and connections with rural voters (@DeedsCountry) and one attacking McDonnell’s thesis and controversy surrounding it (@BobsThesis). Needless to say, doing a three-pronged Twitter strategy is not a good idea.
Ruthven makes the point: “Campaigns should resist the temptation to create a new Twitter account for each issue or micro-campaign that they are running. Multiple accounts breed message dilution. Staff should limit their own tweeting on campaign topics. Recurring issues and themes can be highlighted by creating appropriate hashtags on a unified Twitter feed.”
And while it’s great to hear that Deeds is such a big fan of groups like the Drive-By Truckers and The Band, having your candidate for governor tweet about how he’s listening to the bands while on the road, as opposed to thoughts on topical issues, is not a good idea, either. According to the study, over a three-month period, Deeds tweeted about music 39 times, and talked about his transportation plan – a major issue in Virginia — once.
As I’ve said before, the Internet is a tool of a wider effort. Scott Brown’s campaign in Massachusetts seemed to understand this. There was a period between the end of the primaries and when the general election campaign began in earnest. Shortly after the primaries, the Democratic candidate, Martha Coakley, went dark on ads and on Twitter. Brown did not. While continuing his free and paid media blitz, his campaign also kept it up on Twitter. In the first month of the general election campaign, he out-tweeted Coakley by about two-to-one.
It’s worth pointing out here that Brown had 15,827 followers, as opposed to Coakley’s 4,361. He also happened to tweet more unique news, “calls to action,” and “self-promotion.” Again, here’s why Twitter can be an effective tool. A “call to action,” as defined in the analysis, consists of requests for donations, volunteers, voter registration and get-out-the-vote. A campaign isn’t meant to be on Twitter to be your pal, it is supposed to be organizing to win. Brown did that.
If you want your tactics on the Internet to be effective, don’t play around with Twitter like it’s a toy. Sure, it might be fun to think that a few people would like to see the personal side of your candidate, but that isn’t going to convince them to help you stuff envelopes, knock on doors, write letters to the editor or contribute.
Recently I’ve teamed up with three different people on three different projects to offer my advice to new politicos looking to launch aggressive web campaigns. It’s very difficult to organize so much into something so streamlined and organized. My thoughts are often all over the place because I’m used to thinking about a specific strategy and how to build tactics using various mediums, but while teaching a seminar a couple weeks ago, a young lady asked me “where should campaigns spend the most time and effort?”
It’s hard to think about just one medium and how it can singularly be used for success. That’s like asking how to win a football game with just a wide receiver and no backs.
Lately my thoughts have centered on Facebook. I love Twitter and YouTube and I have a renewed obsession with Google, but I always come back to Facebook. I think its because over the last few days I sat and watched my mother-in-law spend every free minute on the social network.
Don’t respond when a blogger is just throwing out pointless gibberish that doesn’t matter, but don’t lie back when they’re flat out wrong on facts that do matter. Choose your battles and respond when its important.
Activists across the nation are calling into Massachusetts this weekend to help Scott Brown’s campaign for US Senate. Republicans are finally getting it and creating the online tools for grassroots action. And I’m PUMPED about it.
I shot this video last week and hesitated to post it because I know I’m going to catch all kinds of hell with even suggesting using purchased lists. But I’m here to talk about the results I’m having and this is what I’ve found.
Purchased and rented lists typically have a HORRIBLE open rate, but you can have some strong success if you use them strategically and very sparingly with the goal of grabbing new organic subscribers – prospecting. NEVER dump a purchased list into your organic list and absolutely 100% never ever ever SPAM the crap of folks with tons of unsolicited emails every week. Use them in the midst of hot button issues only when folks will be spurred to action.
I should have also mentioned stolen lists in this video. This year alone I’ve ended up on about ten new mailing lists because consultants are stealing candidate’s lists and giving them to other candidates. Seriously people…quit with the dumb shiz.
