A big hearty CONGRATULATIONS goes out to Rep. John Fleming of Oily-siana, who has won the House Republicans’ “March Madness style contest … to see who could gain the most new Facebook friends, Twitter followers and YouTube subscribers” during a six-week period. The spirit of competition is alive and well in America! What exciting prize did Fleming receive for becoming the “new media” prom king?
An iPhone, hooray! Now Fleming can make even more Twitters and Facebook status messages for all of his cool new online friends. So happy 4 u JF.
Coming in second and third were Reps. Phil Gingrey of Georgia and Lamar Smith of the Most Glorious Nation-State of Texas, with Gingrey taking home a “flippy camera,” and Smith receiving … a set of steak knives? “[T]he knives are to ‘symbolize the need for House Republicans to stay on the ‘cutting edge’ of new media,” explained House GOP Vice-Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers. Smith is from Texas and probably eats a lot of meat, so sure, computers and cutlery, why not.
“I am honored to be the House Republican New Media Champion. Thanks to all those who participated,” Fleming tweeted, demonstrating a level of modesty unusual among Republicans. The GOP, on the other hand, is not too proud to boast about its modernity and Web connectedness:
The New Media Challenge symbolizes the progress and leadership of House Republicans when it comes to using these critical technologies. In January 2009, 56 percent of House Republicans used YouTube, 37 percent used Facebook, and 28 percent used Twitter. Today, those numbers are 89 percent, 79 percent, and 64 percent, respectively. House Democrats are substantially behind in all categories.
Oooh, are the Demorats just going to stand there and take that? Sort of! Sure, they are holding their own social media contest, with Rep. Steny Hoyer at the helm. But it is totally a latecomer rip-off of the GOP’s contest, and it only lasts two weeks. Democrats care about their constituents only 1/3 as much as Republicans do.
Even the liberal-progressive bible-zine Mother Jones has pointed out how the GOP is so much farther along than the Dems in using online-talkie sites to pretend they care about the citizenry. Come on, Dems! You can pretend to care even better than the GOP, when you just try hard enough. [GOP.gov/TheHill.com]
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Well, we do know that Republicans like to spend a lot of time on the Internet.
Please. The House Republicans are just riding on the coattails of the great Facebook “Win a Date with Nikki Haley (After Signing This Non-Disclosure & Confidentiality Agreement!)” campaign.
Internet popularity will only get him a reality show on VH1.
I asked my 17-year-old if she uses Twitter, and she gave me that well-known “oh, God, mom, you are just pa-thetic” look. She said Twitter is for old people, and she wouldn’t be caught dead using it.
So much for reaching out to the next gen of voters, Repubs. I can’t wait for the eyeroll when I give her this bit of news.
Everybody knows the GOP is the party of the techno-savvy. Nothing to see here.
Did he pick up that toupee the other Republican clown threw away?
I guess I’m not with it and understand absolutely nothing. But is that why those bastard cocksuckers are all twatting away really fast and furious whenever Obama addresses Congress, to make it look like they care about people?
This will be Fleming’s only political achievement. In his life.
[re=595942]Limeylizzie[/re]: The GOP must have some big Congress cloning machine that stamps these guys out a dozen at a time with subtle variations from batch to batch.
Does the internet prom come with internet pron?
He should order a set (or two!) of iPhone Nutz from Ken Layne. He loves that shit.
“The New Media Challenge symbolizes the progress and leadership of House Republicans…”
And meanwhile the only thing House Democrats have to symbolize their progress and leadership is the fact that they’re not a caucus who only takes a break from the insane racism every so often to espouse economic theories that were discredited 80 years ago. So sad!
Come on Dems, get with the program. Everyone knows you don’t have any progressive cred unless you holds some lame Ashton Kucher-esque “lets see who can get more followers on the Twatter” competition!
Thank YOU for caring, Wonkette. The rest of the lamestream media disregarded this important achievement, did not send a crew to cover the podium ceremony with national anthems of the winners (USA! USA! USA!), and couldn’t even bother to publicize the subsequent party later that evening for half the GOP congressional caucus at the bondage club for tween boys.
The republicans are also pushing strongly for use of the Telescreen — Winston Smith loves his!
Also, I can’t help but note that Lauri seems to have gotten up awfully early to tell us this about the trivial House Republicans’ trivial Twatter-contest- it’s not even Morning in America, yet. Someone is trying to WIN the morning here, isn’t she?
No, no. This is good.
It’s like when the College Republicans made sure to crash all the frat parties. They wanted to increase everyone’s awareness of them and their clean blazers.
It worked a treat, too. They increased their profile enormously, made sure everyone on campus knew they were dicks or dick smokers (the men, I mean; I never saw any women among the College Republicans for a New Leadership of a New Youth). I’m sure that Phil Gingrey and Chuck Grassley are doing wonders for ensuring that people know what Republicans think… because it was such a mystery before (what with FoxNews and AM radio and all).
Next, they can all watch Birth of a Nation on their iPads.
U R NAIL.
[re=595940]Katydid[/re]: I think yer 17-year old is a good bellwether for the youngs regards the twitter. As for the oldes, like me, twitter is what you do over coffee in the home. Mayhaps this raises questions about the Repubtards’ strategy to tweet, twit, twat to victory lane in November.
Does anyone think they should go back to poll dancing as a come on to raise interest in their candidates?
fourth prize is, you’re fired.
Were they Ginsu knives? I hear they can saw through an iPhone.
[re=595940]Katydid[/re]: Ditto with mine. He is trying to move beyond Facebook.
I’m glad to see they found the time for douchey junior high style contests. Way to go, political elites!
Meh, gayface.
Also, FYI Lauri, but Northwest Louisiana is NOT “real” Oilysiana. Those of us in the know like to refer to it as “Baja Arkansas.”
“[T]he knives are to ’symbolize the need for House Republicans to stay on the ‘cutting edge’ of new media,”
I think she means the knives symbolize the need for some third-place gift and a sale at Target, together with some bullshit symbolism pulled out of her ass.
Guy looks like a mash up between Roger Daltry and Sen. Chuck Purgason’s wig. It’s time to bow out – most of these are “My Generation.”
Wow, I live in Louisiana and I’ve never heard of this guy. Northwest LA – figures. No one lives there and no one wants to go there.
[re=595963]weejee[/re]:
Poll dancing? So that’s why Palin got het tit job! She’s ahead of the curve, so to speak.
I thought it said “wins Internet Porn,” and then I was overwhelmed by waves of disappointment. That dude looks about as internet savvy as my mother-in-law who still cannot figure out how to implement voicemail on her cell phone.
An older version of John Kennedy, or a republican version of John Edwards. He must like young wommens. He won’t go far in the GOP with that plan!
Utah is the biggest porn consuming state in the US, which says it all: repression has gone high tech, too. The price of technology, however, is privacy, and that makes it very expensive indeed. I have to wonder if Bliful’s mother-in-law even wanted the cellphone or had her kids force it on her. In a newsroom I worked in, we called the cellphones “electronic handcuffs.” The editor could harrass you 24/7 with it, and did. The Dems’ reluctance to engage in a technology in which every little move you make is a matter of permanent record might be more wisdom than laziness, though I doubt they lack either.
[re=595983]An Outhouse[/re]: Yr tax $$ @ work. lol cya
Friendster Jesus weeps.
Oh crap, I saw the wig and thought the title was internet porn…how disappointing.
[re=596141]lawrenceofthedesert[/re]: Utah doesn’t necessarily use the most prob, it just spends the most money on it; probably because they’re technologically backwards and don’t know how the internets make it easy to get it for free.
Republicans rule facebook. Dems will never catch up on Farmville. Plus I look at all the “show yer birf certificat” facebook posts and I know it’s Republican territory. Plus, Republicans already have all the special weapons in Mafia Wars.
I’m going to go further out on a limb and guess that this contest was not about the most effective use of location-aware OpenSocial APIs in grass-roots organizing and fundraising.
No, they basically decided to compete with a dog on a skateboard.
Also.
[re=595982]What Fresh Hell is This?[/re]: So what are the kidz doing now, talking on the phone with each other? Retro is in, I hear.
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