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    The Cutline

    Twitter to get its own (unofficial) 2012 GOP debate

    The lead-up to the 2008 presidential election included debates sponsored by YouTube and Facebook--and now it appears 2012 will have at least one debate conducted via Twitter.

    A GOP debate that organizers are calling the "First Presidential Townhall on Twitter" has been slated for July 20.

    The virtual event—organized by the Republican Liberty Caucus and sponsored by TheTeaParty.net—is scheduled to take place between 3:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. ET.

    So far, only Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and Georgia businessman Herman Cain have been announced as participants. But organizers say others are slated to announce their involvement later.

    "We will be releasing the names of the confirmed candidates after the 4th of July holiday to give the few remaining candidates who haven't confirmed time to get acquainted with the platform," TeaParty.net media director Dustin Stockton said in a statement.

    The platform will isolate and organize tweets from the candidates and moderator (radio host Rusty Humphries), as well as those from the Twitterverse, on the 140TownHall.com website.

    "We basically have an online tool that tracks all tweets for a specific account name and hashtag," Adam Green, founder of 140 Dev, the company that developed the platform, told Mashable.com. "It takes all those tweets, aggregates them into a database, separates the ones who are the lead speakers and puts them in one stream, and then puts the others in a separate stream."

    More from Mashable's explanation of debate protocols:

    A lefthand column will display real-time stats, such as how many followers, mentions and retweets each candidate is receiving. A center column will show the debate as it happens, with the moderator in blue and candidate in white. A righthand column will feature a tweet box, so the public can comment as the debate is going on.

    Tweets from the event will be aggregated on the @140TownHall Twitter feed, too.

    Green claims that the candidates themselves will be participating in the debate, not representatives or campaign aides.

    While the platform will be utilizing Twitter's API, Twitter itself is not an official sponsor for the debate.

    In the 2008 campaign cycle, CNN and YouTube partnered for a debate series in which candidates replied to questions submitted through YouTube. And ABC News and Facebook co-sponsored the 2008 New Hampshire Debates (with both parties debating on the same night, back-to-back), during which viewers were encouraged to interact on Facebook pages dedicated to the event.

    Earlier this month, CNN hosted a GOP debate in New Hampshire, displaying live tweets and Facebook status updates on a large screen inside the hall.

    (Photo illustration: The Cutline)

     

    14 comments

    • noyb  •  10 mths ago
      Ron Paul vs the Status Quo 2012
      • Glen 10 mths ago
        Ron Paul is this countries last hope, but people won't open their minds to what he is saying. Get Gov't out of your life, bring home the troops, audit and close the Fed, stop the IRS, repeal the Patriot Act, Secure our Borders but make it easier to get a citizenship, get gov't out of health care and go back to a totally free system.... nah, those ideas would never work.
    • Glen  •  10 mths ago
      Ron Paul is this countries last hope, but people won't open their minds to what he is saying. Get Gov't out of your life, bring home the troops, audit and close the Fed, stop the IRS, repeal the Patriot Act, Secure our Borders but make it easier to get a citizenship, get gov't out of health care and go back to a totally free system.... nah, those ideas would never work.
      • John L. 10 mths ago
        "Stop the IRS"? Tell me, who would collect the taxes that any sane person knows is necessary to run the country? To give you something you can probably easily wrap your brain around: how would we fund the military, for example?

        And to abolish FEMA (which he also wants to do) is just downright stupid. FEMA needs fixing, not ending. Unless you think every victim of a disaster such as Hurricane Katrina should just fend for themselves?
      • Qball 10 mths ago
        Umm...Dave we didn't even have an IRS, at least in the current income tax form, until 1913. Taxes were being collected well before that. If we went to a flat tax, there would be no need for a huge agency anyway. As far as FEMA, it is a complete disaster which didn't even exist until 1979. We still took care of disasters, just more at the state level. It was much more efficient, and people were better taken care or. Haven't you been reading about all of the problems the FEMA regulations are causing for people who live through disasters?
      • Guest 10 mths ago
        Ron Pal isn't even smart enough to change his web site to say he's running for president, just that he's rerunning for congress, he's too senile to run for anything
    • justaguy  •  10 mths ago
      This should be something special... The American public, which claims to be sick of sound bites and negative campaigning, will have a debate made up of 140-character comments. This should be as substantive as an episode of Jersey Shore.
      • Glen 10 mths ago
        So sorry that it does NOT fit your "please hold your answer to 30 seconds" typical bullshit debate. Wake up. 1 out of 10 are out of work, 1 out of 7 are on food stamps, 14 million lost their homes, 2 Trillion deficit in spending with a 14.3 overall dificit. 46% of all Americans get some type of gov't assistance. We CAN NOT keep funding everyone and everything. We must phase out these socialist progams. FDR created it but it is a ponzy scheme and can not and will not last. It does NOT have enough money. If you put in $ you will still get it but the younger generation will not, it will not be there.
      • John L. 10 mths ago
        Er, Glen? Did you not pick up from "Justaguy"'s post that he OPPOSES short-answer debates? You should work on your reading comprehension.
      • Guest 10 mths ago
        Well how many characters does it say "vote for me, Obama bad for you". The candidates would actually have to have a position to use up more than 140 characters
    • John L.  •  10 mths ago
      Yeah, Twitter is perfect for a Presidential debate, with its 140 character limitation. People don't want in-depth answers, anyways.
    • Romero  •  10 mths ago
      Ron Paul 2012
    • William  •  10 mths ago
      Just when the Obummer liberal media thought they had ridiculed Palin out of existence, this Bachmann gal pops up. Now they gotta' star all over again. How frustrating!
    • R  •  10 mths ago
      @RonPaul2012
    • Angela TC  •  10 mths ago
      Ron Paul.2012.
    • foo  •  10 mths ago
      Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin should excel in this format, which promises to give us a new bumper crop of witty quips and lies.
    • Rusty Shachalferd  •  10 mths ago
      I guess it's only appropriate. After all, you can't spell Twitter without Twit.
    • Marlene K  •  10 mths ago
      What do they think the debate on Cnn was? It was a stupid twitter debate with stupid questions that had nothing to do with policies or ideas.
    • forty55_  •  10 mths ago
      Who will be the Top Twit?
    • Jim M  •  10 mths ago
      So the twits will be twittering away 140 characters at a time, thus demonstrating their vast attention spans. I almost care.
    • Holly  •  10 mths ago
      No wonder she is called INCOMPITANO! No other name could be more appropriate. As all here have said or alluded to, it is not about immigration (as the liberals want to couch the language) it is about people violating the SOVEREIGNTY of our country. She knows, but fails to acknowledge, that is a crime. Most peoples ancestors were immigrants who came legally, learned OUR language(English), assimilated the culture, and did all the proper things to become citizens; contrary to these people wanting to have it done in reverse. No Dream Act, no Amnesty regardless of how they are here illegally.
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