ToplineModerate Democrats are seeking higher office in the wake of President Joe Biden's Twitter-bombastic presidency. They have adopted the same social media-averse strategy that helped him win the Democratic nomination.UNITED STATES – JULY 30, 2018: Senator Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) and Representative Conor Lamb (D-Pa.), talk... [+] in front of the Problem Solvers Caucus newsconference on the infrastructure deal, which will be held outside the Capitol on Friday July 30, 2021. (Photo by Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images. CQ Roll Call, Inc via Getty ImagesThe Key FactsThe latest example was Friday's launch of Rep. Conor Lambs (D.Pa.) U.S. Senate Campaign. He said in his first campaign advertisement, These are serious times and we wont lose this race on Twitter. However, Lamb's following is far smaller than that of Pennsylvanias Lt. Governor. John Fetterman has 410,000 Twitter followers and 100,000 Facebook fans. Lambs comments echo Eric Adams's, the moderate who won New York City Mayoral election in June. He declared, in his primary victory speech: "I don’t care what people Tweet." I care about the people that I meet on the streets. Adams' 27,000-follower Twitter account was just verified. He beat out several prominent foes, including Andrew Yang, former presidential candidate, and Maya Wiley (MSNBC contributor), who each have 1.9 million Twitter followers and 453,000 respectively. Adams calls himself the Biden in Brooklyn. This nickname is fitting given his experience with social media. Biden, unlike his prolific predecessors, doesn't create his tweets. Some of his top staffers don't even have official Twitter accounts. Biden's inability to use social media effectively was a major contrast to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and former President Donald Trump during the 2020 campaign. Biden voted for Trump in September.Important QuoteWhen asked last month about Trump's lawsuits against Twitter, Facebook, and Google for overturning his bans on the platforms, Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, said that "I think it is safe to say the president spends less time obsessing about social media than the ex-president."Big Number484,000. Nina Turner, a former Ohio state legislator and progressive star, has 484,000 Twitter followers. Cuyahoga Democratic Party chair Shontel, who was a moderate winner, has only 27,000 followers. This is a good sign for Lamb, as Lamb cannot verify Brown's authenticity.Surprising FactCandidates like Brown and Adams have been able to win despite having very few followers. This is because they are only a small percentage of the population who use Twitter. According to Pew Research data, 22% of Americans use Twitter. The top 10% of Twitter users generate 80% of all tweets. Pew Research data also shows that Twitter users are more left-leaning than the American electorate.
