Don’t you worry about that debt ceiling problem in Congress, American citizens. Your President has pulled out the big guns in his mission to motivate an agreement between Democrats and Republicans: he’s turned to Twitter.
“Now, on Monday night, I asked the American people to make their voice heard in this debate, and the response was overwhelming,” said President Barack Obama in a statement on Friday.
“So please, to all the American people, keep it up. If you want to see a bipartisan compromise — a bill that can pass both houses of Congress and that I can sign — let your members of Congress know. Make a phone call. Send an email. Tweet. Keep the pressure on Washington, and we can get past this.”
To the man whose 2008 presidential victory had much to do with the power of social media, Twitter has earned itself a snug place alongside phones and email as a primary form of communication. The President wants you to tweet your congressmen.
Earlier Friday, following his live statement about the debt ceiling, President Barack Obama tweeted out the following message:
The time for putting party first is over. If you want to see a bipartisan #compromise, let Congress know. Call. Email. Tweet. —BO
Immediately after, the account sent out the following:
You heard the President. So here’s what we’re doing: throughout the day we’ll post the Twitter handles of GOP lawmakers in each state. […] Tweet at your Republican legislators and urge them to support a bipartisan compromise to the debt crisis.
And they weren’t kidding.
For hours now, the official Barack Obama Twitter account has been sending out a barrage of tweets listing, in alphabetical order by state, all the Republican congressmen along with direct links to their Twitter accounts. And the hashtag #compromise is being included in many of them, though it will need some help to top trending topics like “Cowboys & Aliens” and “Soulja Boy.”
It’s worth noting that Obama isn’t actually at his computer or phone penning posts for his Twitter account. The tweets signed “BO” supposedly come directly from him, while the rest are managed by his campaign staff.
