The Republicans appear to be dominating the political part of the world of Twitter. This was a self conscious strategy; having been thoroughly trounced in the blogosphere, they were not going to let themselves get beat again. So we get to read about Charles Grassley’s inane non-sequiturs, Gingrich’s fact free claims of Sotomayor’s alleged racism, or McCain’s rants about earmarks.
Whether by accident or design, Twitter is the perfect medium for Republicans. Given the character limit per tweet it doesn’t only encourage, it demands superficial thinking. Thus McCain, Newt, Grassley, et. al., can send a tweet to their media friends, who will dutifully pass it on, unanalyzed, to the public.
McCain, for instance, can tweet about earmarkswithout having to address the merits of the earmarks he attacks, or come to terms with the fact that the spending he attacks is such a small sliver of the federal budget that eliminating all earmarks, as he suggests, would make virtually no difference to the budget. It’s sufficient that the earmarks attacked sound funny, or can be made to sound funny by some creative misrepresentation.
In the political realm Twitter is as close as the Internet comes to talk radio. Thought free repetition of talking points, simplistic slogans about complex issues, mindless reinforcement of preconceived notions, all with no need to ever defend your position with facts and logical arguments. It’s the perfect environment for Republicans.
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