The Obama administration plans to renew its #40dollars campaign today, complete with a White House event this morning involving some of the people who posted Twitter messages about what $40 meant to them.
Launched in December, the White House used Twitter to let ordinary people sound off about the value of $40, which is the amount that would have been cut from the average American’s weekly paycheck under a Republican tax proposal. The campaign was an instant success, as it transcended partisan lines and put complex tax policy into simple language.
When the #40dollars campaign was launched in December, it was trending worldwide within 45 minutes of the White House announcement and generating 6,000 tweets per hour.
While Republicans claimed the campaign oversimplified the debate, it didn’t stop them from trying a less-successful version of the Twitter hash tag campaign leading into President Obama’s State of the Union address.
Obama announced the renewed #40dollars campaign in a 40-second YouTube video that will be released later today. In it, he asks supporters to use the #40dollars hash tag or make comments on the White House Website.
“Your voices changed the debate and reminded Washington what was at stake. Well, once again I need you,” Obama said in the video. “We all need you to speak out. Because if Congress fails to act soon, then taxes on the middle class will go up.”
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