jct74
03-07-2013, 01:50 AM
this is a really good article, take a few minutes to read it. the authors really underscore the magnitude of this event as an important moment for both Rand Paul and the GOP.
How Twitter Helped Drive Rand Paul's Filibuster To The National Stage
“Twitter is woven through the DNA of this filibuster, taking an obscure legislative process into the public space,” GOP strategist Rick Wilson says.
John Stanton and Rebecca Berg
March 7, 2013 at 1:57am EST
http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/webdr02/2013/3/7/1/enhanced-buzz-12874-1362637969-4.jpg
WASHINGTON — Sen. Rand Paul's nearly 13 hour long filibuster could mark a key turning point not only in the Kentucky Republican's meteoric political career, but for a Republican Party that has struggled to find any footing since November's electoral defeats.
Fueled in large part by support from a Twitter political class that flexed its muscles on policy issues, Republicans rallied around Paul in a way that hasn't been seen on the national stage in years and could provide a glimmer of hope for a listless party.
"There was a hell of a lot of team play tonight," a senior GOP leadership aide said Thursday morning, acknowledging that Paul's filibuster had given the GOP a much needed jolt of energy. "Everybody's in a three-point stance, helmets on and ready to fight," the aide said.
...
But throughout the filibuster, and the media and public uproar it caused, Twitter was driving force behind much of the momentum that helped power Paul and the pressure on his colleagues to join in.
...
Although he wasn't able to check Twitter, television or any other media, it was clear Paul himself was beginning to grasp the enormity of his effort in the public sphere minutes after the filibuster was over.
...
According to several GOP aides, a number of Senate Republicans, who had initially dismissed Paul's filibuster as futile gesture, were swayed into coming to the floor to demonstrate their support for CSPAN's cameras in no small part because of local and national twitter pressure campaigns organized by Tea Party groups and other conservatives.
...
read more:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/johnstanton/how-twitter-helped-drive-rand-pauls-filibuster-to-the-nation
How Twitter Helped Drive Rand Paul's Filibuster To The National Stage
“Twitter is woven through the DNA of this filibuster, taking an obscure legislative process into the public space,” GOP strategist Rick Wilson says.
John Stanton and Rebecca Berg
March 7, 2013 at 1:57am EST
http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/webdr02/2013/3/7/1/enhanced-buzz-12874-1362637969-4.jpg
WASHINGTON — Sen. Rand Paul's nearly 13 hour long filibuster could mark a key turning point not only in the Kentucky Republican's meteoric political career, but for a Republican Party that has struggled to find any footing since November's electoral defeats.
Fueled in large part by support from a Twitter political class that flexed its muscles on policy issues, Republicans rallied around Paul in a way that hasn't been seen on the national stage in years and could provide a glimmer of hope for a listless party.
"There was a hell of a lot of team play tonight," a senior GOP leadership aide said Thursday morning, acknowledging that Paul's filibuster had given the GOP a much needed jolt of energy. "Everybody's in a three-point stance, helmets on and ready to fight," the aide said.
...
But throughout the filibuster, and the media and public uproar it caused, Twitter was driving force behind much of the momentum that helped power Paul and the pressure on his colleagues to join in.
...
Although he wasn't able to check Twitter, television or any other media, it was clear Paul himself was beginning to grasp the enormity of his effort in the public sphere minutes after the filibuster was over.
...
According to several GOP aides, a number of Senate Republicans, who had initially dismissed Paul's filibuster as futile gesture, were swayed into coming to the floor to demonstrate their support for CSPAN's cameras in no small part because of local and national twitter pressure campaigns organized by Tea Party groups and other conservatives.
...
read more:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/johnstanton/how-twitter-helped-drive-rand-pauls-filibuster-to-the-nation