1 Tweet: 12 Staffers
It is safe to say Hillary Clinton has not had a good weekend. The days following FBI Director James Comey’s decision to re-investigate emails related to Hillary Clinton’s personal server, Clinton’s campaign has been furiously sending out social media posts reiterating her positions and attacking Comey and her opponent Donald Trump. In light of a new email chain released by WikiLeaks detailing how it took 12 staffers, 12 hours, and 10 drafts to compose a tweet about minimum wage, one can only imagine the work being put in by staffers after the Comey surprise.
Fight for 15
12 staffers, 12 hours, and 10 drafts. Sounds crazy, right? However, in today’s election, a tweet can cost voters. The Clinton campaign is still using Donald Trump’s 3 AM tweets about Alicia Machado to attack his moral character, instability, and fitness to serve as commander and chief.
In April of 2015, low-wage workers and child care workers nationwide demanded minimum wage be raised to 15 dollars an hour and people worldwide demonstrated their support on social media platforms by using the hashtag #fightfor15. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Chief of Staff reached out to the Clinton staff in hopes they would show support for increasing wages for underpaid workers. The Clinton campaign was in a tight position: seize the opportunity to appeal to middle and working class voters, or risk sounding off-policy. The camp decided the middle and working class vote was worth it but apparently, forming the right words was harder than imagined.
Over twenty emails with various drafts were exchanged between 12 staffers including Campaign Chairman, John Podesta, Chief Strategist, Joel Benenson, and Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri.
Different versions of the desired message included:
#1 – “Every American deserves a fair shot at success with a true living wage. I stand with fast food workers in the #fightfor15. -H”
#2 – “Every American deserves a fair shot at success with a true living wage. I applaud fast food workers in their #fightfor15. -H”
#3 – “With corporate profits at record highs, it’s time for a real raise for all working Americans.”
#4 – “Every American deserves a fair shot at success with a true living wage. I stand with fast food workers in the #fightfor15. -H”
#5 “Every American deserves a fair shot at success. Fast food & child care workers shouldn’t have to march in streets for living wages #Fightfor15”
#6 “Every American deserves a fair shot at success. Fast food & child care workers shouldn’t have to march in streets for living wages.”
#7- “Every American deserves a fair shot at success. Fast food & child care workers shouldn’t have to march in streets for living wages. -H”
#8- “Every American deserves a fair shot at success. Fast food & child care workers shouldn’t have to march for living wages. #fightfor15 –H
#9- “Every American deserves a fair shot at success. Fast food & child care workers shouldn’t have to march in streets for living wages. -H”
#10- “Every American deserves a fair shot at success. Fast food & child care workers shouldn’t have to march in streets for living wages. –HRC”
* The final tweet never ended up on Clinton’s Twitter page but was tweeted from an “unofficial” account, Clinton News.
Every American deserves a fair shot at success. Fast food & child care workers shouldn't have to march in streets for living wages. -HRC
— Hillary Clinton News (@ClintonNews) April 16, 2015
Clinton’s Disconnect
So there you have it. Finally, a behind-the-scenes look into Clinton’s media pages, but it makes you wonder, is the Trump Campaign dealing with the inefficiency in tweeting seen in the email chain above? Probably not but whether or not that benefits them is another story. However, the email chain reveals two other pieces of information besides the communication team’s inefficiency. First, Hillary Clinton is not writing the tweets despite the attached ‘H.’ Second, to prevent an attack from the opposition, staffers immediately delete the two words that would connect Clinton with her media followers, “I stand.”
If Clinton drafted her own tweets and used language that made her messages more personal, maybe she wouldn’t be perceived as cold, robotic, and unapproachable. Her distant and disconnected persona has not helped her gain supporters, and that image can only hurt worse when combined with another FBI investigation.
This is a really interesting and high quality post, especially considering the current state of the race and how there is not that much to say about HRC and middle class rhetoric. I think that your post captures one of the concerns I have experienced about Hillary, which is that her efforts to seem genuine actually feel contrived. I feel like it is completely understandable for a candidate to let staffers control their twitter, but it doesn’t sit right with constituents when the candidate claims, in this case, to have written the tweets. Your list of the variations of the tweets does a great job of showing HRC’s process of forming rhetoric and how important the specific impact of her messages is to the campaign.