Pioneer Press 5/26/09
Welcome to Twitter, Minnesota's new frontier of political communication
Updated: 05/26/2009 10:22:55 AM CDT
By Rachel E. Stassen-Berger rstassen-berger@pioneerpress.com
Minnesota politicians long ago perfected the art of using lots of words to say almost nothing. This year, they worked on saying an awful lot with just 140 characters.
When Gov. Tim Pawlenty sent a budget offer to Democratic lawmakers during the legislative session, House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher's first public response was on Twitter, a social messaging service.
"Governor's letter a compromise? Compromise in word only, doesn't balance the budget. Not a responsible plan," wrote the speaker, who posts on Twitter as @MAKMinnesota.
If you were interested in the debate about whether police can stop drivers to enforce seat belt rules, you could find a concise explanation on Twitter.
"Primary seatbelt legislation on house floor. The various arguments boil down to personal responsibility vs. enforcing safety," wrote @laurabrod, aka Rep. Laura Brod, R-New Prague, from the House floor last week. The bill was passed and signed into law.
Welcome to the new frontier of political communication. Twitter users can send notes no longer than the first two sentences of this article. Elected officials have started voicing opinions, sharing news and connecting with supporters, reporters and others on Twitter.
"It's a nice, simple, quick way of communicating," Brod said. "We need more and more people paying attention to what we are doing from St. Paul, and I am looking for any opportunity I can get to engage people, in whatever venue or environment that works best."
Brod and Kelliher were two of the early adopters of Twitter, which really took off in Minnesota politics this year. More than 30 Minnesota politicians, state officials and staffers use Twitter to interact and get their messages out.
"I would equate it to play-by-play politics," said Blois Olson, executive vice president at Tunheim Partners and public relations guru.
The Twittering ranks include former Sen. Norm Coleman, aka @SenatorColeman — who recently posted that his knee surgery would be a good way to keep his mind off his court fight — about a quarter of the Minnesota House members, four of Minnesota's nine-member congressional delegation, several candidates for governor and Pawlenty's political arm, @pawlenty.
Pawlenty's Twitter initiation last month was a bit bumpy. At first, he had a staffer send his messages, and his Twitter page was designed with a white-on-white background, making it all but impossible to read. Now, according to Trisha Hamm, his political director, he often sends his "tweets" — as Twitter posts are known — himself.
The day after the legislative session ended, Pawlenty's Twitter channel transmitted his political take on the Legislature: "DFL #mnleg failed to enact balanced budget or any reforms. Now flying around state to brag about it. What color is the sky in their world?" (#mnleg is the hashtag — see guide inside for Twitter terms — followers of the Legislature use to keep track of events.)
A few hours later, Kelliher responded with a simple: "My Minnesota sky is blue."
The two messages were retweeted — that is, copied and sent out — to thousands of watchers.
Political Twittering can lead to unfortunate results.
Some of Rep. Paul Gardner's impassioned tweets during a tax bill debate offended two Republican members — so much so that they prepared an ethics complaint against the Shoreview DFLer.
Gardner's posts suggested Republican Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Delano, targeted female politicians in his parries and that Rep. Mark Buesgens, R-Jordan, might have a black eye.
"This is the most bizarre thing in the world," said Emmer, who was informed of the offending tweets soon after Gardner posted them. He said the online messages were unfair and inappropriate. "This is not only bad form, this is wrong. You go after people's reputations in the sea of the Internet, and it never goes away."
The offending tweets were deleted, a high-level meeting was called, and Gardner issued a public apology: "I apologize for this transgression. We often get emotional during important debate, and tempers can flare, but that can be no excuse."
In an interview, he said the lesson was learned.
"The first thing that pops in your head is not the first thing you should say on Twitter," he said.
Gardner said with all new communications tools — e-mail, Facebook, message boards — someone tests the limits, and that helps define good and bad uses.
"I'm the first guy to hit the fence," Gardner said. "The silver lining is that I think of a lot of people who were not really helping the debate with their electronic communications should learn from my example."
But Emmer and Buesgens' ethics complaint lives on — days past the time Gardner deleted the messages — and last week, Emmer said the issue is unresolved.
House Speaker Kelliher said Twitter, like other new media, does call for a rethinking of how members communicate.
"I think sometimes people should count to 10 before they tweet," Kelliher said. "It does make us revisit again our policy on electronic media and the respectful use of electronic media in the workplace."
But Kelliher — who can talk at length about the glories of Tweetdeck, a program that helps manage Twitter — has embraced the social network, warts and all.
"I think it makes sense in the real time, especially in the fast-paced environment, (to be) able to respond and get something out there," said Kelliher, who added she sometimes tracked legislative action via Twitter during the session. "I actually think it's a tool that can add transparency to public negotiating on public matters. I think that is fascinating."
POLITICAL TWITTER
For a listing of Minnesota politicians, governments, political reporters, bloggers and others involved in politics and have a Twitter presence, go to mnpoltwitter.pbworks.com.
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