Communications

By: Michael Short

On Tuesday, the Republican National Committee and Chairman Michael Steele launched an aggressive Twitter campaign called #AskGibbs. It has been highly successful from the outset in raising awareness about the issue of whether or not Congressman Joe Sestak (D-PA) was offered a job by the Obama White House and putting pressure on the Administration to meet their own standard for openness and transparency. According to Hot Air, “#AskGibbs was quite the hot hashtag this morning among conservative tweeters.” And rightly so. In just five hours yesterday, there were over 1,500 uses of the #AskGibbs hashtag alone. The campaign caught the eye of ABC News’ Jake Tapper who picked up on the story yesterday:

Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele is attempting to use social media to force the White House to do what the White House press corps has not been able to so far: explain just what Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., was referring to what he claimed that White House officials offered him a government job if he agreed to not challenge Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., whom Sestak defeated in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary last week.

#AskGibbs has received a very positive response from the online community. The website TechRepublican gave the RNC’s new social media campaign high marks:

The Republican National Committee is turning that tool of transparency known as Twitter on Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs in a bizarre episode that is raising questions about how far the Obama administration's commitment to political transparency stretches … This morning, the Republican National Committee took up the ball and moved it to the Twitter playing field. Chair Michael Steele is promoting the #AskGibbs hashtag as a way to "tweet White House press secretary Robert Gibbs at @PressSec and to ask him to be more forthcoming."

The campaign has received a great deal of local media coverage as well. The Philadelphia Daily News, which was covering a rally in Pennsylvania that Chairman Steele was headlining yesterday, spoke about the RNC’s new media push:

Yesterday, Steele launched a Twitter campaign in which people are urged to "tweet" White House press secretary Robert Gibbs' Twitter handle, @PressSec, asking about Sestak."Very simple question," Steele said. "Answer the question: Did you, or did you not, offer the job?"

#AskGibbs has also ignited a political firestorm. Today, Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA) came out and called for Sestak to explain his dealings with the administration:

“I actually think the White House and Joe Sestak should be a little more detailed and put this behind them," Rendell said. He said the issue of whether Sestak was offered a job in the Obama administration to get out of the primary race against Specter isn't on the forefront of voters' minds. But, he acknowledged that it is a distraction that will only linger if not addressed.”

Gov. Rendell joins a growing list of members of the president’s own party who are getting behind Republicans and concerned Americans calling for action to shed light on the White House’s shady dealings with Congressman Sestak:

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said the onus is on Sestak to say more about the offer he claimed to have received from the Obama administration in exchange for dropping his primary challenge to Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.). "At some point, I think Congressman Sestak needs to make clear what happened," Durbin told reporters at the Capitol.

Despite its lofty calls for transparency, openness, and a new way of doing business in Washington, this Administration has proven to be no friend of the press, enacting a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy of its own in order to crush any attempt to shed any further light on the matter. However, this strategy is working against the White House. Today, all seven Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder to call for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate Congressman Sestak’s claims. The momentum is clearly with those who are pressing the Administration for answers. Americans can keep putting pressure on Democrats and the White House to come clean by using the hashtag #AskGibbs and tweeting your questions to @PressSec.