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UTUSN

(70,696 posts)
Tue Dec 16, 2014, 07:22 PM Dec 2014

Can Twitter/PALTROW zap Jeb Crow Shrub's running the way Roger MUDD did to Ted KENNEDY's?!1

*********QUOTE********

http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2014/12/16/jeb-bush-actively-explore-twitter/
[font size=5]Twitter reacts to Jeb Bush's decision to 'actively explore' 2016 race[/font]


Jeb Bush exploded on Twitter, but not necessarily in a good way.

The former Florida governor became the first major Republican candidate to declare he will “actively explore the possibility of running for president” with a post on Facebook and a tweet.

[FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]Except “actively explore” has become the political equivalent of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin announcing their “conscious uncoupling”[/FONT] — a phrase that opens itself to mockery, particularly from journalists and political junkies.

“Everyone is ‘actively exploring’ something,” reads part of Mashable’s headline on Bush’s trend.

In terms of numbers, Bush’s original Twitter message has been retweeted more than 6,000 times and was liked more than 4,200 times on Facebook.



*********** .... (SOME EXAMPLES: ) ************

Twitter is 'actively exploring' how many jokes can be made about @JebBush's vague announcement http://on.mash.to/1swOQyE

I am pleased to announce that I am actively exploring eating leftover turkey chili again for lunch. Though, I could decide to go out instead

I'm actively exploring the possibility of ditching Twitter for 30 minutes and grabbing a cat nap. Happy Hannukah!

Twitter Reax: 1. Here we go. 2. Hi 2016. 3. Something about the Bushes. 4. I'm actively exploring (mundane activity)

I’m confused. No exploratory committee, but Jeb will begin “actively exploring?” [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]What was he doing before? Passively exploring?[/FONT]

Excited to announce that I'm going to actively explore the possibility of this pizza in my belly

We're actively exploring...oh, is this joke over already? http://trib.al/fLo7KVd

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14 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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nichomachus

(12,754 posts)
1. It's move to keep his name in circulation -- to keep people writing about him
Tue Dec 16, 2014, 07:26 PM
Dec 2014

And it's working. He thanks you for helping out.

UTUSN

(70,696 posts)
3. I had not realized I am a national force. A more incisive view was that his releasing tons of
Tue Dec 16, 2014, 07:48 PM
Dec 2014

stuff is aimed at Hillary, backing her into the corner of releasing *her* tons of actually secret and embarrassing stuff. Jeb Crow Shrub doesn't need me for name recognition.

Actually, this fake-transparency gambit might backfire: His rivals and media *should* escalate to, "If you're releasing THIS, what about this OTHER stuff (and more and more)?!1" He's releasing ONLY harmless stuff, not the "good" stuff.

Octafish

(55,745 posts)
2. We might have to get used to the sound of ''President Jebthro.''
Tue Dec 16, 2014, 07:30 PM
Dec 2014


We really should have imprisoned his grandfather and his father and his brother for high crimes and treason, but, for some reason, we haven't.

NightWatcher

(39,343 posts)
4. "actively exploring"= dumping his corrupt business ties before he has to disclose them
Tue Dec 16, 2014, 07:52 PM
Dec 2014

As soon as he announces a run he'll have to disclose all of his business connections. In the meantime, he can start distancing himself from the corporations that are profiting from Common Core which is his baby and is universally hated by most on the right and many on the left here.

UTUSN

(70,696 posts)
9. Here's a chunk of the work of answering. I'll leave attaching numbers to cultural memes to others.
Tue Dec 16, 2014, 09:24 PM
Dec 2014

*********QUOTE********

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Mudd

[font size=5]Ted Kennedy interview [/font]
Mudd is [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]often remembered for an interview[/FONT] he conducted with Senator Edward M. Kennedy for a CBS-TV special on November 4, 1979, Teddy, telecast three days before Kennedy announced his challenge to President Jimmy Carter for the 1980 Democratic Presidential nomination. In addition to questioning Kennedy about the Chappaquiddick incident, Mudd asked, "Senator, why do you want to be President?" [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]Kennedy's stammering answer[/FONT] which has been described as "incoherent and repetitive"[19] as well as "vague, unprepared"[20] raised serious questions about his motivation in seeking the office, and [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]marked the beginning of the sharp decline in Kennedy's impressive poll numbers[/FONT].[19] Mr. Carter defeated Kennedy 50 percent to 38 percent in the Democratic primary vote. Although the Kennedy family refused to permit any further interviews by Mudd, [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]the interview helped strengthen Mudd's reputation as a leading political reporter[/FONT].[21]

The broadcaster and blogger Hugh Hewitt and the Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson have used [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]the term "Roger Mudd moment"[/FONT] to describe [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]a self-inflicted disastrous encounter with the press by a presidential candidate[/FONT].[20]

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brooklynite

(94,581 posts)
12. MY point is that the Roger Mudd interview was on national TV...
Tue Dec 16, 2014, 10:30 PM
Dec 2014

...when there were only three channels.

The number that would pay attention to a twitter meme is an insignificant fraction of that number.

UTUSN

(70,696 posts)
13. & my point (now) is that I dispute that there is a direct correlation between numbers of
Tue Dec 16, 2014, 11:11 PM
Dec 2014

first-hand witnesses to an event (either the t.v. of yore or the Twitter of today) and the ephemeral rise or collapse of public figures. At some point the event itself with its original audience is propelled by the chattering class into "what everybody knows."

But now my point is becoming, I didn't dream I was going to have to defend an innocuously appropriate topic for discussion so much and so humorlessly especially since the link contains some chuckles .

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