Pre-Election Day Tweets_ Rallying the Troops

Perhaps, in a more perfect world, an independent voter in Blacksburg, Va., a college town  with Virginia Tech which happens to be in Montgomery County, one of the most politically split jurisdictions in America according to today's "Roanoke Times." could order "Red Dawn" (1984) and the Michael Moore documentary "Sicko," about the decline of the American health care system from Netflix and invite uber-partisan liberals and conservatives for a wine and cheese party.

That's not likely to happen, but one thing all sides might agree on is how expensive political races are becoming. "Indy Week" announced in its current issue that Chad Barefoot, a 29-year-old Republican, has spent $916,754 to face incumbent state senator Doug Berger, a Democrat, for a Wake County (Raleigh) state senate seat. Reportedly, most state senators in North Carolina make circa $40,000.

These are insane times indeed, and perhaps that is reflected in these tweets we collected from last night:

1) @PaulFeig (Creator of the cult tv show "Freaks and Geeks"): "Whichever candidate you support, make sure to take down the sign in front of your house immediately, if they win. Nobody likes a gloater."

2) @PaulBegala (Paul Begala, a center-left tv commentator): "Okay @CNNOpinion, here's final predictions: POTUS wins with 297 electoral votes; Romney 241.

3) @TeaPartyCat (Top Conservative Cat, actually a liberal political satirist): "Chris Christie: 'I'm still very satisfied with Obama and FEMA. And, oh, thanks Mitt for saving New Jersey with $5,000 of canned goods."

4) @AnnaMarieCox (Anna Marie Cox is a liberal pundit in Minnesota, a swing state): "Just today, a reporter asked me: 'Do you know how they're getting all these people to Romney rallies? Answer: By force?"

5) @tbtduluth (Trampled by Turtles, a popular band from Minnesota): "Remember when your politics, religion, and income were nobody else's goddamn business? That was nice."

6) @NRO ("National Review," a conservative magazine): "Romney's Bucks County, PA, rally matches President Bush's in '04 just 5 days before he defeated John Kerry." (Of course, we should point out that these tweets do not necessarily reflect the views of our managing editor Tilly Gokbudak, who happens to be moi).

7) @MMFlint (Michael Moore, pictured bottom with glove; the liberal icon is ironically from Michigan, Romney's state of birth, also a swing state): "Plus, a few dozen Repubs need 2 be removed from the House if Obama is 2 get anything done. Every swing state has a Repub or 2 who need 2 go."

8) @BilgeEbiri (Bilge Ebiri is a movie critic for "New York" magazine): "I think the strangest irony of this election might actually be that Scott Brown appears poised about losing his senate seat."

http://www.michaelmoore.com

http://www.nationalreview.com

http://www.roanoke.com

http://www.indyweek.com

http://www.netflix.com

GOP Pre-Convention Tweets: If We Had a Real Media

The 2012 Republican National Convention gets underway in Tampa, Fla., tomorrow, and we have decided to be both objective (in the Charlie Rose sense) and subjective as can be (in the Cenk Uygur sense). So, I guess for the next five days, we will essentially be like Fox News in reverse.

On Twitter tonight, east coast USA time, one of the main trending topic was #IfWeHadARealMedia; though most tweets were right-leaning, some liberals chimed in as well.

Before we post tweets ranging from right wing comic, talk-show host Dennis Miller, who will perform in Durham, NC, on Sept. 8, ironically the most liberal zip code in the Tarheel State, to Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist who was part of Bill Clinton's War Room, let's go over the images:

1) Travis Tritt: The country singer has let his conservative views be well-known, but to our knowledge he has not resonated the same hate speech rhetoric as Hank Williams Jr. Tritt will be the feature performer at the Shenandoah County in Woodstock, Va. on Aug. 31st.

2) Big Splash. At $1.5 million, this Tibetan mastiff is the most expensive dog in the world, which means Mitt and Ann Romney could afford to have the dog as a pet. Today (Sunday) is incidentally National Dog Day.

3) Vincent Lecavalier. We don't know the political views of the Tampa Lightning captain, which is just as well, as he is a Canadian, and presumably can't vote in the American presidential election.

Here are the tweets:

1) @DennisDMZ (Dennis Miller): "Biden told Obama that's not how you spell Phio. You've got the O's switched around."

2) @LisainDallas (Lisa in Dallas): "#IfweHadARealMedia: They would report on the wars the same way they did under Bush."

3) @word_34 (Spread the Word): "If.......: You would know that Bush kept 1.2 trillion off the books for two unfunded wars."

4) @noiwillnotbe (I Will NOT Be Quiet): "#If......the republican war on women would be covered."

5) @exrepublicans (Ex-Repubs for Obama): "#If......: Bill O, Hannity, Hush, and Beck wouldn't exist."

6) @Reagan-Girl (Marjorie Haun): "#If......: Keith Olbermann would be behind glass in a "Ripley's Believe It or Not" museum."

7) @PaulBegala (Paul Begala): "Sure, Romney's humor is lame & offensive. Could it be strategic_ to distract from new docs on Caymans tax dodge?"

http://www.shencofair.com

http://www.travistritt.com

http://www.dennismillerradio.com

http://www.visittampabay.com

http://www.current.com

http://www.gopconvention2012.com

http://www.nationaldogday.com

http://www.twitter.com

http://www.vinny4.com

And, for more tweets from tonight about the GOP Convention, and see an image of a Tampa Bay Bucaneers cheerleader, visit our sister blog at:

http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com