GOP promotes social-media use despite recent controversy

Rep. John Fleming (R-La.) continues his reign as champion of the Republican tweeters.

For the second year in a row, Fleming won the Republican New Media Challenge, a contest that measured Twitter followers, Facebook "likes" and YouTube video views over a six-week period from May 16 to June 24.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), whose office oversaw the competition, announced the winners Thursday.

Fleming said in a press release that the key to his success is "as simple as listening and engaging with your constituents."

Republicans have kept up their enthusiasm for social media in the wake of the scandal over former Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner's (N.Y.) Twitter use.

"House Republicans are keeping the pedal to the metal in the digital space," said McMorris Rodgers. According to her office, more than 80 percent of the Republican Conference, including 90 percent of the freshman class, now use Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

"For Republicans, [social media is] very important because we can get around the national media, who tend to be liberal," Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) said on a conference call last week. "So any way that we can get our message out to people is very important, and this is a very good one."

McKeon, who lost to Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) in the final-eight round of the New Media Challenge, said, "If you ignore [new media] you do so at your own peril."

McKeon credited President Obama with using social media to a "huge advantage" during his 2008 election. "[He] kind of made the last election different than any before," he said, and pointed out that social media has become an important aspect of any political campaign ever since.

"You can use it in the wrong way," McKeon said, acknowledging Weiner, who was forced to resign last month after sending inappropriate pictures to followers through social media. "That was really over the top," he said of the former lawmaker's Twitter use.

McKeon, McMorris Rodgers, and heavy social media users such as Fleming and Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.), who took second place in the challenge, lead the way by encouraging their fellow Republicans to think of social media as another tool for connecting with constituents.

The social media contest, one of the ways the Republican Conference encourages social media use, aimed to promote and better equip members with "innovative ways to use these tools," according to a statement by McMorris Rodgers.

Participants in the challenge included 54 freshman lawmakers, 44 continuing members and eight committees for a total of 106 Republican members and committees.