We know the changing social media world can be confusing for Republican campaigns, what with all the Twitterbooks and Snapvines. But here is a pro tip for Greg Abbott‘s gubernatorial campaign. Seize every last electronic device from every staffer, surrogate, and intern. Now. Perhaps you can avoid looking like tone-deaf jackasses by November.
The latest in a long line of eyebrow raising tweets comes from William Martinez – Texas A&M student, Abbott intern, and “collector.” Perhaps giddy at the thought of joining today’s “pithy” #AltWendyDavisBookTitle hashtag-fest, he threw out real humdinger. True, he probably just wanted to spice things up from the leaded clunkers of Erick Erickson and Dave Carney. But maybe comparing Sen. Davis to Adolph Hitler isn’t the right way to get a retweet.
In case Abbott is wondering, no one is following his August entreaty to “Stay positive.” Martinez has since apologized, removing all selfies from his feed in the process, but he can take comfort that he started a whole new hashtag trend – #AltWilliamMartinezBookTitle. Our suggestion is “How to end a political career without really trying.”
This article appears in May 23 • 2014.