In its latest attempt to buy public opinion and, thus, the election, the Romney campaign purchased today's top trending topic for the entire day: #CantAfford4More.
Of course, the hashtag was intended to be an anti-Obama messaging campaign before tonight's debate. And at first, Tweets that aligned with Romney's wishes dominated.
However, that has changed as progressives have turned the topic on its head. Here are just a few examples of those Tweets which now sit atop the hashtag's trending list:
This isn't the first time the Romney campaign has purchased the day's top trend, nor is it even the first time this particular hashtag has been purchased.
And today, as happens more often than not, the campaign's efforts have been mitigated by smart, responsive progressives. Here's my addition:
Feel free to add yours.
Author's Note:
A very sharp question was asked by gooderservice, who mused about how much purchasing Twitter trends can actually move public opinion, and whether there is any data to show its potential effects.
The core of my response, and I think this bears repeating, is in bold below:
While I have no such data -- and remember, such data with regard to television ads is difficult to gather -- my guess is:
1) There is some data out there which supports such efforts.
2) There is no data, but it's an inexpensive "risk" -- a shot in the dark.
However, and this is MOST important, in an age of lazy journalism, where seeing what's trending on Twitter passes as news, these things often find themselves onto CNN, MSNBC, FOX...