Mark Warner Twitters? Tweet!

Man Who Made His Millions in Tech Warming Up to Bold, Briefer Bulletins

By Michael Laris

Sunday, February 1, 2009

To meet Twitter limits, these paragraphs are 140 characters or fewer. Please overlook odd spelling or punctuation, this time.

On the U.S. Senate floor, Mark Warner (D) is on Twitter. That means a 140-character limit. Can the gentleman even clear his throat?

It's the first morning of a new job. You're going to become a senator and it would be fun to tell someone. How about everyone?

"Getting ready for the start of the 111th Congress and to take the oath of office at noon today." – 8:56 AM Jan 6th from txtx

Warner co-founded Nextel. Tech is his thing. It helped him as governor and boosted his national profile. His message: I get it.

Anyone can sign up to get his short messages, with links to blogs and video. Tweets! There are 5,034,660 voters. He has 1,048 followers.

"On the Senate floor for my first vote" – 2:12 PM Jan 11th from txt

At times it can get quite meta. One tweet linked to his shaky video of Obama's oath. News photos show Warner on the podium filming it.

"My view of the Inauguration" got this response: "Glad you got a good view, Senator. I was unfortunately stuck in a tunnel for 4 hours."

Warner's twittering is still pretty sparse. Staffers do much of it for him. The wording is bland, not much detail.

"Presiding over the Senate as it considers the nomination of the Treasury Secretary and the children's health insurance program." – 6:10 PM Jan 26th from web

Not so in the higher-metabolism House. Texas GOP Rep. John Culberson is a rock star there, twittering to 5,935 followers.

Why twitter? "Because my job description is 'Representative,' " he says. "It can be immensely time consuming."

Writing short takes time. NY'r critic Sasha Frere-Jones summarized the year in music in tweet Haiku. Others have written six-word memoirs.

Warner aides are gauging how much time the boss should devote. His bulletins have started to build an audience.

Among the fans: a life coach who works with hometown pols in Alexandria. "I love Mark Warner!" Tina Games-Evans said.

And critics: "I give him A+ for effort. I give him C+ for what he's done so far," said Richmond ad exec and power tweeter Dave Saunders.

"At a Banking Committee hearing investigating Bernie Madoff's alleged investment securities fraud." – 11:17 AM Jan 27th from web

In a Tysons Corner office, Steve Lunceford compiles the GovTwit directory. Depts. of Ag, Defense, Energy, Homeland Security are all there.

"Folks have to figure out what their identity is going to be," Lunceford says. John McCain's Twitter account says: "GO Cards!!"

Question is, when will Twitter get as clogged as Hill e-mail boxes? And will it just be the latest bullhorn?

"Twitter is another one-to-many medium," said Conor Kenny, a Sunlight Foundation editor. Most members just push out news releases with it.

Would LBJ, master Senate persuader, tweet? His Austin librarian Betty Sue Flowers isn't sure. He watched 3 TVs, would have dug cellphones.

"You really have to have nuance and voice and time and maybe, on occasion, drink," she said. "His main medium was human beings."

Tagged: Mark Warner, State news, technology

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