The interview: pt. 2

As promised, here is my second interview blog with Caleb Burnett. I wanted to see how Caleb thought Twitter would affect the upcoming presidential race, so I asked him. He said, “Twitter is just another way for candidates to communicate and influence voters. I feel as if it is not used quite as much as Facebook, but close. It is all in how the candidates use it, and some candidates are making sure voters know how they feel about everything, and some are not. Whoever wins the most people over on Twitter, they can be satisfied with themselves knowing no one else is going to get those votes because they did not make the effort.”

Looking back at what Caleb told me, I realize that from what I have seen, this is mostly true. I know that candidates who use Twitter will definitely gain voters from there that other candidates will not. However, although Twitter has become such a large social network, I still don’t think that it can play a deciding factor in an election. Just because a candidate tweets a bunch of stuff about their campaign does not mean that they will overtake the other competition. Candidates have to be able to find a balance between campaigning on Twitter so that they can win in more than just one category. Twitter is a great outlet to let people know your ideology and your stance on different topics, but it is not enough to win an election by itself.

I asked Caleb these questions because I have seen him being very active in politics on Twitter. Seeing someone be that involved in politics at my age is rare, and Caleb seems to know his stuff when it comes to politics. This is encouraging to know, given that generally people our age are disinterested in politics and think that they are non applicable to them. This interview gave me a chance to see and listen to someone who is passionate about our government and is looking for change.

The interview: pt. 1

This weekend I got the chance to talk to my friend Caleb Burnett about his views on the upcoming presidential race and the way the candidates have been handling their Twitter pages. Caleb is a sophomore at Wesleyan Baptist University. Caleb is conservative and normally votes for Republican candidates. However, for the purpose of this interview I asked Caleb to be as unbiased as possible.

First I asked Caleb which candidate he thought has done the best job on Twitter so far. Caleb told me that Ted Cruz has been the most successful candidate so far. Caleb said, “He was the first to announce and he did it on Twitter. Also, he literally responds to every single current issue with a tweet and his opinion and solution. I think he does a really good job with Public Relations. He does Twitter more than the other candidates.” Caleb has viewed Ted Cruz’s success by the amount of time and energy spent on Twitter. I agree with Caleb. I have seen a lot of Ted Cruz on Twtter and have noticed his ability to address issues and not leave any issues out.

Second, I asked Caleb who he thought was doing the worst job on Twitter. Caleb told me “Jeb Bush or Mike Huckabee have done the worst job on Twitter. Those guys just are not as formal or as well put together in their tweets as other candidates, and they are not as savvy with it. And they are not reaching the younger folks because of it.” Seeing what Caleb talked about here could be really concerning for those candidates in their future.

How does a candidate expect to win the election if they do not utilize one of the biggest resources online? The Twitter world has grown so quickly and to such a large size that any candidate who does not make the most out of it could definitely lose support to other candidates who do use it. Ted Cruz knows what Twitter can do for his campaign. Others like Mike Huckabee (although he has not announced yet) and Jeb Bush should get on Twitter quickly and take control of the online world.

I also asked Caleb questions on how he thinks Twitter will affect the upcoming race, so be sure to check out my next post later today.

Gone Polling

  Earlier in the semester, I polled my Twitter followers asking if they paid any attention to politicians on Twitter. The majority of people said no. However, as candidates are announcing their campaigns for President, more people will be paying attention to politicians on Twitter. I wanted to see how drastic the change would be now that the race is on. Here are the results.

In comparison to thirteen votes for not paying attention like my previous poll, a higher percentage this time voted that they would pay attention. Although “no” still got more votes than yes, the percentages were still closer and the results weren’t as staggering.

Why do people only want to pay attention when people are running for offices? When politicians are running for office, they are putting everything out for everyone to see. This gives people the opportunity to really think about how they feel about the candidates and what they are all about. Candidates advertise themselves on social media. Social media is strictly a tool for them to use to grow their network and let the world see what they’re about.

Waka 2016

 Rapper Waka Flocka Flame went to Twitter this week to announce his candidacy for President. This is a great publicity stunt, but some people are missing out on a few key things.

To people who think that Waka Flocka can run for president: In order to run for President of the United States, you have to be thirty-five to run for President. Waka Flocka is only 28… How sad. If you watch his campaign video, you will find that most of Flocka’s campaign is based around legalizing marijuana.

I have seen a bunch of tweets this week saying stuff like “You have my vote” and “#Waka2016.” He is not running for president. Just a publicity stunt.

Um…..

1. I really really hope that this tweet is not taken seriously by those who have read it. Why? Well, why would we give money to the people who have earned it when we could give it to people who have given no effort towards their work and have thrown away the free opportunity that we strive for in America.

2. The top 0.2% of American wealth is made up of billionaires who have busted their tails their whole lives and have earned that title. Billionaires earn their money. Let’s not be so quick to take that away from them.

Nothing Is Private.

Rand is not slowing down. The NSA has been doing virtually the same thing for years, and because of the rapid growth of technology, it has been made more simple for them to access civilian phone records. How is this Constitutional? It is not. Rand Paul is attacking the NSA for their improper use of power to get into the lives of Americans everywhere. Rand is not backing down from a fight and is ready to face his presidential competition head on.

Innocent Until Proven Guilty

Rand Paul is running for President as we know already.  Paul is already out to make his viewpoints known and addressing issues that he believes are affecting our country today and wants to change if he becomes our President. One of these issues is the Constitutional ideal that was set around 250 years ago and was meant to be taken literally. In some recent cases involving Loretta Lynch and her mindset to allow civil forfeiture of property. Paul lashed out against the idea that just because there is a valid court order, the government can take money and property from you without evidence of a crime. Lynch and others have targeted low income, predominantly black/Hispanic families and assumed that they were guilty. This could be a big topic in the race for President.

The Snapchat Campaign

 Marco Rubio has created a Snapchat account which will allow him to share campaign videos and pictures with people who choose to follow him. Snapchat has been one of the biggest app stories over the past five years, with growth so rapid that it has around one hundred million users per month, along with over 400 million snaps sent a day (expandedramblings.com). These statistics are staggering. Rubio has taken advantage of the large number of users on Snapchat early in the campaign to try to gain an edge over the other candidates. How well will this work? Only time will tell.

Cruzin

Ted Cruz already has at least one donor in each state across the nation. How does this effect his campaign? Well Ted already can begin campaigning in each state because he already possesses some sort of influence on them. I am no campaign money expert, but I would think that the ability to grab support from every single state less than a month into your campaign is a pretty big deal. I am sure that most candidates will be able to accomplish this as well, but the fact that Cruz did this so fast is astounding to me.

Marco Is In

Yet another Republican candidate announced the start of his campaign. Marco Rubio is in the running for President of the United States. Running with the slogan “A New American Century,” Rubio is going to be pushing for government reform and a swarm of brand new policy ideas. Rubio is now the second candidate from my birth state Florida. Could Florida be the home of our future president?