Word On The Tweet: Raising Money, Tweet By Tweet
San Francisco City Attorney investigator Adriel Hampton made a splash today when he announced his long-shot bid for Congress over Twitter. The former San Francisco Examiner political editor told On Call that he hopes to harness the netroots organizing power that was a cornerstone of Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Part of that, he said, is to use Twitter to raise what he hopes will be "a ton of money."
"I'm asking everyone who follows me on Twitter to send me $100," he told WOTT today. "And if they can't? Send me $5."
The focus on Twitter isn't just about money or free publicity, Hampton said. The self-proclaimed "progressive Democrat" and one-time Green party member said he wants to use Twitter and other social media tools (Next Big Thing Alert: Hampton's got a Ning) to remain accessible to supporters throughout the campaign journey.
"I see a lot of politicians on Twitter, and it's about a numbers game for them -- 'look at how many supporters I have," he said. "But for me it's about accessibility. I intend to be a candidate who'll Twitter when he's in office, too."
"This is about digital accessibility," he said when asked why he chose Twitter. "It's a way to regularly communicate wih the thousands of people we are supposed to represent. ... My plan is touch many people electronically during the day but still be able to hug my kids every night."
Hampton hopes to replace Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D), who has said she'll leave the seat if she's confirmed as an undersecretary of state in the Obama administration. That hasn't happened yet, and there's still no official election date set in the race. Plus, to get the job Hampton will face a tough primary in the overwhelmingly Democratic CA-10 district. At least one prominent candidate has already announced his intention to run and more are expected to announce when Tauscher resigns her House seat.
Hampton said he aims to show that someone of moderate means can run successfully for federal office. "Normal people need to be able to work and run," he explained, answering press phone calls while in the middle of his work day.
"I'm just a guy," he added.
Follow Hotline on Twitter: twitter.com/thehotline.
(EVAN McMORRIS-SANTORO)
It really is a powerful medium, and thus its no surprise really that a prospective legislator would announce his candidacy on Twitter.
We've been so impressed with the quality of postings, that we've created a web site dedicated to aggregating the tweets of all of our members of Congress.
www.congressional140.com
Thanks for the coverage. Look forward to talking more. My campaign number for now is (925) 895-3744.