Barack Obama still hasn’t learned, trots out #WHChat; Update: White House pulls wool over Twitter’s eyes
http://twitter.com/#!/whitehouse/status/205772255966396416
President Obama is prepared to answer questions on a wide range of issues:
President Obama heads to Newton, Iowa today to talk about clean energy jobs & #CongressToDoList. Got questions? Ask now with #WHChat
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 24, 2012
Have a question about the #CongressToDoList & the President's plan to bring jobs back to the US? Ask now with #WHChat pic.twitter.com/SttdLCpk
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 24, 2012
Got questions on the President's plan to invest in clean energy & #smallbiz? Ask now with #WHChat
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 24, 2012
Got ?s on the #CongressToDoList & the President's plan to invest in clean energy manufacturing? http://t.co/Tgim0wX3 Ask now with #WHChat
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 24, 2012
Have a question about the #CongressToDoList & the President's plan to grow the economy? Ask now with #WHChat
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 24, 2012
But only softball questions need apply; he’s not prepared for conservatives’ responses. He’s never prepared. As Ethan Klapper, new media reporter at HuffPo points out, Obama’s team at least tried to be a little sneaky this time:
By announcing this #WHChat at the last minute, the WH is preventing GOP from working on messaging to hijack the hashtag (as they often do).
— Ethan Klapper (@ethanklapper) May 24, 2012
Yeah. Like that’d actually work. Do a search on Twitter for #WHChat, and you’ll find that the tag’s been thoroughly hijacked by conservatives … as usual.
Mr. President, Do you plan to roll back your attack on religious liberty now that Christians and Jews are revolting against it? #WHChat
— Ben Domenech (@bdomenech) May 24, 2012
https://twitter.com/katyabram/status/205779867923521538
Why aren't we better off than we were $4 trillion ago? #WHChat
— Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) May 24, 2012
When they put you on Mount Rushmore, can you blast off those other four d-bags first? #WHchat
— jon gabriel (@exjon) May 24, 2012
How'd you like it if someone came along and picked an apple off of YOU? #WHchat
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) May 24, 2012
#WHChat Any explanation for the @whitehouse "gender-pay gap?"
— Kemberlee Kaye (@KemberleeKaye) May 24, 2012
#WHchat How often does Joe Biden hit "reply all?"
— Sean Hackbarth (@seanhackbarth) May 24, 2012
Courtesy of @Slublog
Heh.
Did Jimmy Carter ever thank you for replacing him as the worst post-war President? #WHChat
— DrewMTips (@DrewMTips) May 24, 2012
Where on the doll did capitalism touch you? #WHChat
— Kevin Eder (@keder) May 24, 2012
#whchat when are you going to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline to create American jobs!
— Rep. Jeff Duncan (@RepJeffDuncan) May 24, 2012
https://twitter.com/Dianne93101/status/205783789803286528
https://twitter.com/mveilenstein/status/205784595352928256
How many more recovery summers before we actually recover? #WHChat
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) May 24, 2012
An increasing number of moderate Democrats, including Senator Joe Manchin, refuse to endorse you. Why is that? #WHChat
— SunnyRight (@sunnyright) May 24, 2012
I ate my peas. Now what? #WHChat
— Ryan (@RyTep) May 24, 2012
Can you explain how half a Pipeline works? #WHchat
— joe warner (@jwarner180) May 24, 2012
This job was easier before you had to do things, wasn't it? #WHChat
— Anthony Bialy (@AnthonyBialy) May 24, 2012
Game.
#WHChat How can we, as simple, vile commoners, be a part of Michelle's entourage during her luxury vacations? I can tapdance!
— Kindofa Dick (@DicksTrash) May 24, 2012
Set.
How long do you think it will take to pack in November? #WHChat
— BiasedGirl (@BiasedGirl) May 24, 2012
Match.
Keep ‘em comin’, guys!
***
Well, well, well … seems the White House might’ve been somewhat successful in its sneakiness after all:
Most of the #whchat questions were asked 3+ hrs ago — so this isn't really what it seems. POTUS is just typing out prepared responses
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) May 24, 2012
Stephen Gutowski explains how it went down:
Looks like the White House found a way to trick conservatives into hijacking #WHChat too late… by lying about it
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) May 24, 2012
They announced #WHChat earlier today without mentioning Obama would be answering the questions…
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) May 24, 2012
Then they cherry picked the questions they liked from #WHChat hours ago and prepared responses to them.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) May 24, 2012
Then a few minutes ago they announced Obama's involvement in #WHChat & just had him type out the answers for a photo op
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) May 24, 2012
Pretty dishonest way of pretending to engage with people on Twitter but what do you expect… #WHChat
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) May 24, 2012
It shows, I think, that the White House knows they can't really win on Twitter so they're just going to pretend to fight from now on
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) May 24, 2012
@LastBrainLeft True but they're so scared of a hijacking they'll give up trying to engage with their supporters basically
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) May 24, 2012
So basically, Obama and his minions are so afraid of conservatives’ domination of Twitter, they’re willing to mislead their followers into thinking that they actually engage with the president. Barack Obama: man of the people (but not really).
***
off to des moines. thx for questions – keep em coming. remember we're not D's or R's but americans first! -bo
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 24, 2012
Nice of him to ask people for questions now that he’s finished answering the hours-old ones his people picked for him. Maybe he’ll get around to this evenings questions sometime next week.
