Other News

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Ariz.) on Sunday praised U.S. troops after the conclusion of successful parliamentary elections in Iraq.

Cornyn tweeted late Sunday:

Thanks to US military and their families for the sacrifices that make todays election in Iraq possible

Sunday's vote was not without outbursts of violence, as fighting throughout the Middle Eastern state claimed 31 lives.

But the White House has nonetheless heralded the election as a sign of progress in Iraq's slow rebirth as a democracy.

However, Sunday's outcome is also important for U.S. forces serving in Iraq, as it was one of the conditions the White House laid out in 2009 when President Barack Obama agreed to withdrawal most combat troops by August of this year.

So far, the White House is on track to meet that deadline, Obama told reporters during a brief speech Sunday.

Twitter maestro Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) tweeted earlier today:

Aftr 3 speeches Sat Morn I ate lunch at Hickory Park Ames. So popular had wait 45Min. Good Meal at value price worth wait

Never having been to Iowa, I looked up the restaurant and, being a Californian, have concluded that it looks like a Claim Jumper. And those have long waits, too, except when I'd take my grandparents at 11:05 a.m. But as awesome as a live tweet of the senator's lunch would have been, the "hickory smoked meats served in generous portions" would have likely made his BlackBerry voodoo a wee bit messy... and difficult.

The restaurant wasn't the only Iowa business to get a cyberspace plug from Grassley. Yesterday he tweeted:

Come visit the Science Ctr of Iowa in DsM I felt like a big kid xplorin Science Wife luvd pendulum

"Had to sell five black angus cows to stay in the game. But we're in to win and still have a few more cows!" - Arkansas Senate candidate Kim Hendren (R), via Twitter. Hendren joked to The Tolbert Report he had to sell the livestock in order to pay his filing fee to run for Sen. Blanche Lincoln's (D-Ark.) seat.

Cross-posted from the Ballot Box

A study released Wednesday found that political campaigns that release Twitter messages on multiple accounts hurt themselves by diluting their message.

The study, released by Qorvis Strategies, surveyed the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial elections and the Massachusetts special Senate election in January.

During the Virginia and New Jersey races, then-candidate Bob McDonnell (R-Va.) and then-Gov. Jon Corzine (D-N.J.) used one single Twitter account whereas Democratic candidate Creigh Deeds (Va.) and Republican challenger Chris Christie (N.J.) used multiple accounts.

The study showed that having one account allowed campaigns to attract more followers  and was better for issing a unified message.

McConnell's single account had over 7,000 followers but the top three Deeds accounts (out of 6 listed), only amounted to just over 4,700 followers. Three Deeds accounts belonged to campaign staff.

Corzine had just over 4,400 followers but Christie had more at over 5,000 between his three accounts. But Wyeth Ruthven, a former Democratic congressional staffer who conducted the study, said that Deeds' and Christie's multiple accounts had few mutual followers.

It's worth mentioning that Christie and McDonnell both won their respective races despite their different Twitter strategies.

The study was not without it's amusing results. "Pointless babble" made up the plurality of the tweets studied at 40.55 percent.

Ruthven also noted that Deeds, a noted music fan, tweeted more about what was playing on his stereo than his transportation plan:

In fact, Deeds devoted more tweets to his musical tastes (39 tweets) than to his transportation plan (1).

The study surveyed a random sample of 2,000 tweets at 30 minute intervals over a 5 day period.

One of the Senate's most prolific users of Twitter launched a second feed Tuesday for his reelection campaign.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) debuted a new handle, "@GrassleyWorks," as he gears up for this fall's elections.

The new feed was launched on Monday, but appears to be more staff-written than Grassley's official senatorial account, "@ChuckGrassley."

We'd expect the campaign tweets to be less candid than some of the senator's other tweets, including one of our all-time favorites: "Work on farm Fri. Burning piles of brush WindyFire got out of control. Thank God for good naber He help get undr control PantsBurnLegWound."

Americans should make their own healthcare decisions - Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.)
We need federal help for Medicaid - Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.)
Zinger - Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.)
2,000 workers furloughed because of Bunning - Senate Dems
Economic recovery without jobs is not recovery - Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas)
Still working on financial regs bill - Kristin Brost (Senate Banking Cmte)
Tough loss for U.S. hockey but great Olympics - Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.)
Broadband grants will create jobs - Sec. Gary Locke (Commerce)

The Republican Study Committee (RSC) declared Monday a "Twitter Day," encouraging its members to tweet about their "commitment," or favorite issue in Congress.

50 members of the group of conservative House Republicans will be putting up Twitter messages with the theme until around 3 p.m. according to William Allison, a spokesman for the group.

They are using the hashtag #rsc to mark the tweets.

Here are a few examples. Republican Study Committee Chairman Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) tweeted:

My commitment is health reform that empowers patients and not Washington. #RSC

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) tweeted:

My commitment: holding Washington accountable for its reckless spending & wasting taxpayers’ $, hence my no-earmark pledge. #RSC

House Republicans have a large presence on Twitter. They currently outpace House Democrats in Twitter followers and have a dedicated new media caucus to exploit social networking platforms.

House Democrats have recently taken steps to improve their presence on the microblogging site. The House Democratic Caucus increased their Twitter activity and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) this month became the highest ranking House Democrat to join Twitter.

The RSC has compiled a list of all the Republicans participating here.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton doesn't want you to know it, but the White House is pulling for the U.S. Olympic hockey team.

After the U.S. hockey team tied the Canadians in the last second to send the gold medal game to overtime, Burton joked onTwitter about giving an official White House response on background:

Tied! White House response, on bgnd, from a low- to mid-level administration official: USA! USA! USA!

UPDATED

After Canada clinched their gold medal victory in overtime, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs tweeted:

Wow unreal game...POTUS watched OT in his office right off the Oval Office - all of us are so proud of our great team

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) used the Jewish holiday of Purim to make a point about the need for Israel's security.

Ros-Lehtinen, who is one of Israel's foremost defenders in Congress and serve as  the House Foreign Affairs Committee's ranking Republican, tweeted:

Purim 2day: Jews celebrate being saved centuries ago. New dangers confront Israel now but threats are just as existential.

Purim commemorates the ancient Jews' defeat of the Haman, a Persian official who wanted them eradicated. The holiday is a celebratory affair, Jews usually dress in costumes and those who are of age are encouraged to drink alcohol. The holiday began Saturday night and continues through Sunday. 

But Ros-Lehtinen, an Episcopalian, wasn't the only lawmaker to celebrate Jewish culture on Twitter Sunday.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), who is Jewish said she ate a Jewish delicatessen favorite for breakfast after she appeared on "Meet the Press" this morning. She tweeted:

Just finished Meet The Press, now on set having breakfast w/roundtable (bagels, lox and cream cheese)

Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) reiterated his support for Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's gubernatorial bid on Twitter Saturday.

ABC's Jake Tapper asked on Twitter:

any Texas Republicans out there? Who are you voting for for Governor and why?

Burgess tweeted in response:

@jaketapper KBH for me

The Dallas-area congressman endorsed Hutchison's primary challenge to Gov. Rick Perry (R) in October. Hutchison, however, trails Perry in the polls. Voters will choose the GOP nominee on Tuesday.