LAST 24 HOURS IN A NUTSHELL:
Top House hashtags:
Top Senate hashtags:
Interesting climbers:
- #notbetterforpa01: This from the strong Democratic activist campaign in PA-01, noting that GOP candidate Brian Fitzpatrick had to remove campaign signs containing fake endorsements, among other issues.
- #voteblue vs. #votered: These two are back to back, with blue slightly ahead. Both are scattered widely across the country. It’s the final slog on both sides, and the generic campaign hashtags are spreading.
GENERAL TRENDS:
On the House side, the big-stick endorsement season is here, with #maga shooting high thanks to President Trump’s Twitter endorsement of PA-08 Republican John Chrin in particular. However, the tag is seeing heavy use across the country, perhaps as a sign of the newly re-energized GOP base we’ve been reading about in headlines.
#earnedbenefits is a concerted and widespread Democratic campaign centered around assertions that the GOP intends to roll back Social Security and Medicare benefits. Which is in fact fairly well documented, at least at the aspirational level.
One interesting note is a plea from a Washington Post reporter who notes that at least three GOP candidates – Peter Roscam in IL-06, Jeff Denham in CA-10 and Dave Brat in VA 07 – have been caught lying about the Post’s reporting. Ironically, all three have been claiming that the Post gave “4 Pinocchios” to their respective Democratic opponents’ discussions of Republican healthcare plans. GOP candidates lying about a truth-or-fib rating is so post-truth, it might actually be … no, it’s still just lying.
On the Senate side, Michigan Senate GOP challenger John James is beating the proverbial Twitter bushes, if such a thing exists, which it probably doesn’t. He’s seven points behind incumbent Debbie Stabenow, and closing the gap. Top overall tag is #TXSen, as usual, with Cruz’s individual tags trailing well behind their high-water marks.