Hey, @MittRomney: This #GiveUsRyan Hashtag Is Becoming Kinda Popular

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When Ali Akbar came up with the #GiveUsRyan hashtag — Saturday afternoon, after I made an emergency stop at Burger King to blog about the importance of making Paul Ryan the Republican VP candidate — I was severely skeptical about the ability of a bunch of bloggers to influence events.

Four days later, my skepticism is beginning to evaporate. By Tuesday evening, the tea leaves indicated that what had merely been suspected during the weekend — the veepstakes was coming down to a three-way contest between Ryan, Tim Pawlenty and Rob Portman — had become a reality. Even I was shocked Wednesday morning, however, when I saw that MSNBC had confirmed this. There’s a difference between reading tea leaves and getting it confirmed as actual news.

The key was figuring out that Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, despite being on the official short list, had a “vetting” problem that eliminated him from being a finalist for the nomination. The fact that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal praised Ryan on Sunday was also a pretty big hint of which short-lister was the real conservative favorite. So it was either the two “safe” choices (Pawlenty and Portman) or else the last remaining “bold” choice, Ryan. The other names being bounced around in public were just distractions, and Bill Kristol’s push for Ryan was a clear signal that the insiders knew what the real running mate discussion was about.

Allahpundit’s Tuesday “Quote of the Day” post was a series of items about the Ryan VP buzz. This morning, the Wall Street Journal editorial page came out for Ryan, Rich Lowry joined the chorus, the New York Times picked up on the pro-Ryan push and — here’s a big endorsement — David Frum hates Paul Ryan.

Well, is this all because of Ali and the #GiveUsRyan hashtag? No, of course not. There are lots of conservatives working independently in different ways to make this happen.

But your Tweets do matter. They do make a difference. Just remember to direct your Tweets to @MittRomney and include the #GiveUsRyan hashtag — Mitt’s online campaign keeps track of their mentions, and every Tweet counts.

C’mon, @MittRomney — #GiveUsRyan!

 


19 comments

  6. Hmmm, so everybody gets fed the same anonymous rumor and that means their reports “confirm” each other?  Ace reporting there.

    Like Romney’s leaking his big secret announcement to MSNBC.  Sure, bet on it.  Face it, you’ve been had, fallen hook, line, and sinker for the politician’s revenge – sending the media on a wildly speculative goose chase that will probably end up nowhere near the truth.

    Elementary, Sherlock:  the big “scoop” is that Romney’s choice will be one of three who have been regarded as “short-listers” from the beginning?  Well, disinformation should be plausible enough to be believed and divert attention from the real prize.

    So that means it will be a surprise, perhaps even a game-changer.

    My speculation is at least as valid as your wanton and baseless speculation – sure, Romney will make the most important decision of his candidacy so far because of a hashtag almost trending on Twitter, right?  

    So who changes the game so much that Romney wants it to surprise everyone?  Petraeus?  Well, as DCI he would have to tell Obama he was considering leaving, at least, so that speculation died quickly.

    But WHERE did the speculation originate?  Obama the narcissist telling his donors Romney wants the General!  He couldn’t resist tipping it off, although he knew it was in confidence and if Petraeus wants to later tell that Obama can’t keep a secret, it could hurt him.  But he had to be first, so someone knew he knew.

    Now, maybe it will turn out as your deep investigation of reading rumors on the internet suppose, and you can pat yourself on the back for predicting one of the top three in conventional wisdom gets the nod.

  11. @yahoo-EU5DQWQTTHTPO4A4ZYSL3AAV2U:disqus 

    “Hmmm, so everybody gets fed the same anonymous rumor and that means their reports “confirm” each other?  Ace reporting there.”

    LMAO! Awesome.

  15. So, this #GiveUsRyan thing . . ….

    We didn't come here to dance. . . . Stacy McCain has been clamoring for seems to be gaining support — or, at least gaining energy. I think the support has been there all along, but people have been resigned to the idea that Mitt is going to d…

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