WOTT: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Tweet
It's a quiet day on the feeds today, so WOTT's taking a look back at some of the most followed members' very first tweets. It's just like leafing through baby photos on college Graduation Day.
Setting The Tone
For one man, Twitter offered a bullypulpit the voters had denied him -- a platform to broadcast his message and rally the American people to greatness:
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ): "I am working in my office on Capitol Hill today." 1/23/09, 8:56 AM
2,077 Updates Later, He's Still The Same Man
More than a few lower-profile members have gained modest fame, 140-characters at a time. One made a promise more than a year ago and has kept it:
Rep. John Culberson (R-TX): "2am in Virginia. I am going to have a lot of fun with Qik and Twitter and Utterz and Ustream. Real time 21st Century Democracy." 7/4/08, 12:00 AM
Early Adopter
Some have used Twitter to push pet issues and have gained a following in the process:
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC): "making sure the next Capitol Architect pledges to keep the word "God" on the certificates given with the flags from the Capitol Dome." 10/17/07, 6:37 PM
Balancing Act
As tweeting has become a part of daily life, members have had to learn to find the happy medium between over-sharing and issuing a 140-character press release. Right from the start, one twitterer had it figured out:
Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO): "It's about time I'm doing my first update. I'm so happy I have 86 followers! I am in route to a house party in Erie" 10/26/08, 5:42 PM
The Natural
She may be new to the tweet scene, but even her first message showed us she had found her calling:
Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME): "Looking forward to heading back to Maine tonight, joked with my colleagues this morning that it is too tropical down here" 2/26/09, 10:34 AM
Live From Claire's Brain
No list of Congressional tweeps is complete without the Hill's resident Twitter Dean. This humble tweet birthed the phenomenon:
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO): "I'm thinking about twittering during all of the hoopla over the next few days. What do you think?" 1/17/09, 3:28 PM
On Call Aside: all tweets are reproduced exactly as they appeared.
WOTT provides a carefully selected slice of tweets written by political leaders, ex-politicians and candidates for office nationwide. Hotline subscribers can read the best overnight tweets in our AM edition.
Follow Hotline on Twitter: twitter.com/thehotline.
(EVAN McMORRIS-SANTORO)
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