Lawmakers Twitter During Obama Address

Posted by Mitch Wagner on February 25, 2009 02:17 PM

Lawmakers listened to President Obama's not-the-State-of-the-Union address with their heads bowed -- not in respect or in prayer, but so they could better share their observations and comments with followers on Twitter. About a dozen federal legislators Twittered before, after, or during the speech, according to a roundup at the Huffington Post.

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) had the choicest Twitter moment. "Aggie basketball game is about to start on espn2 for those of you that aren't going to bother watching pelosi smirk for the next hour," he Twittered.

Or was it him? Shortly afterwards, another message appeared on his account: "Disregard that last Tweet from a staffer." Both those messages are missing from his Twitter page, apparently deleted, but they were reported by PC World and several other news sites.

Other choice tweets:

Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.): "Congress is spending at a rate that now would embarrass most drunken sailors and we can't allow that to continue."

Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.): "Sitting at the State of the Union listening to words like responsibilty and accountability just days after a reckless spending spree. #tcot"

I love getting lectured on fiscal responsibility by Republicans. It's like getting lectured on family values by Larry Craig.

Was it right for lawmakers -- on either side of the aisle -- to Twitter during the presidential election? Shouldn't they have been sitting respectfully and paying attention, out of respect for the office and the occasion, even if they opposed Obama?

The Washington Post's Dana Milbank had some snarky comments:

[L]awmakers watched [Obama] with the dignity Americans have come to expect of their leaders: They whipped out their BlackBerrys and began sending text messages like high school kids bored in math class.

"One doesn't want to sound snarky, but it is nice not to see Cheney up there," Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) announced as Obama entered the chamber.

"I did big wooohoo for Justice Ginsberg," Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) broadcast, misspelling the name of the ailing Supreme Court justice. McCaskill could be seen applauding with BlackBerry in one hand.

Milbank concluded: "Should these guys maybe spend time fixing the country and leave the Twittering to somebody else?"

But the Huffington Post's Herzog had a different perspective:

Moments after Obama was sworn into office on Inauguration Day, the first White House blog post highlighted the importance of communication, transparency, and participation, indicating that "change has come to the White House."

I can't think of a better example of those three tenets than bipartisan members of Congress using a social networking service to microblog and intermingle facts with opinions in real time to the American public -- and the global audience.

What do you think? Is it appropriate for representatives and senators to Twitter during a presidential address? Should they Twitter at all?