Digital debates now common in political arena

The debate began before Rep. Gordon

Vance said a single word.

Thursday was Vance’s day to plead his

case for a law requiring that every bill be evaluated for its

effect on jobs. But as the Bozeman Republican grasped the

microphone and rose to face his fellow legislators, a message from

the Montana GOP popped up on cell phones and computers across the

world.

“Right now, the #mtleg is considering

HB100 by Gordon Vance, defending Montana’s job creators ...”

Within seconds of the successful

party-line vote, the GOP delivered again: “Democrats in the #mtleg

House voted against protecting Montana’s job creators from bad

legislation.”

Watching the action, Kalispell citizen

Ryan Wakefield wasn’t buying it. Within minutes, he lashed back at

the Republicans, writing “don’t worry, I am sure that you will get

the democrats back by voting against public education for our

children again #mtleg.”

It’s just another exchange in the

silent digital debate swarming over the Capitol these days. The

140-character bulletins of news and opinion, called tweets, are

available to anyone who logs on to the social website Twitter and

searches for the phrase “ #mtleg.”

In growing numbers, constituents,

activists, lobbyists, journalists and legislators themselves are

tweeting the happenings of Montana’s 62nd Legislature, and the

messages are echoing far beyond the halls of the Capitol.

It’s also becoming part of the process.

Occasionally, you can see individual lawmakers commenting about

what another is saying during an actual floor debate. But the true

power of the tweet is disseminating information, not opinion, say

lawmakers and lobbyists.

Freshman Rep. Bryce Bennett,

D-Missoula, is among the few legislators who tweet regularly. For

him, it’s another way to keep the folks back home abreast of what’s

going on – a much faster way.

Flooded with hundreds of e-mails during

a recent vote to repeal medical marijuana, Bennett found it

immeasurably faster to tweet a one-line response saying he

understood his constituents’ wishes. Likewise, citizens can

instantly tell the young freshman what they think of the job he’s

doing.

So far, Democratic legislators

outnumber Republicans as regular tweeters, but Rep. Mike Miller, a

Helmville Republican who owns a computer services company, isn’t

conceding a thing. Although few of his GOP colleagues are tweeting,

he knows at least some of them are following the chatter. He’s also

made it his job to monitor the Twittersphere on behalf of

colleagues who barely acknowledge it exists.

Miller recounted many times this

session when he’s printed off a Democrat’s tweet, handed it to the

Republican representative it was about, and said, “Here, defend

yourself.”

House Majority Leader Tom McGillvray

sees the benefits of Twitter but also its drawbacks. He was among

the first lawmakers to use the site back in the 2009 session, but

he never made it a habit. He said he’s lucky to get out two or

three a week.

Likewise, he doesn’t look at it on the

floor. He keeps his head in the analog debate before him. And this

year, he has warned his caucus to use discretion as to when and

where they tweet or use other social media sites such as

Facebook.

“I didn’t want to have (lawmakers)

tweeting and twittering, or whatever, and Facebooking on the floor

or in committee meetings. I think we should be focused on the

people testifying for hearings,” McGillvray said.

He also sees that too much tweeting

could be a bad thing, like speaking too frequently during floor

sessions can induce rolling eyes.

“I think that some legislators who are

tweeting too much can lose their effectiveness,” McGillvray said.

“I think Miller is probably a good balance, from what I’ve

seen.”

For Jamee Greer, a lobbyist for the

Montana Human Rights Network, tweets are chiefly a means to rally

the troops and let them know when and where to make their voices

heard.

Many organizations like Greer’s have

turned to Twitter more often in recent weeks as committees

scheduled hearings on short notice as they scrambled to meet the

session’s halftime deadline for general legislation.

Greer also has his own private Twitter

account, one not affiliated with his employer, where he can vent

frustrations or share his opinion on bills in which the network has

no position. But both feeds have their followers – 472 for the

network and 641 for his personal account – which makes Greer

popular with others in the Capitol who want to communicate through

him to his followers.

His reputation as a Twitter fiend is

such that when someone wants to tell him something in confidence,

it’s not uncommon for them to say, “Don’t tweet this, but ...”

Greer said he’s also had members of the

press thank him for tipping them off to hearings or debates they

would have otherwise missed.

For Steve Dogiakos, a Republican

activist working this session as a nonpartisan House clerk, Twitter

is his direct line to citizens. From his desk on the House rostrum,

Dogiakos often tweets the results of key votes faster than

journalists on the floor. An astounding 2,103 people follow his

posts. That’s more than the population of some Montana

counties.

Like the others, he said the main

function of the Capitol’s Twitter community is to share factual

information. But he sees the day when the technology’s influence

over legislators’ opinions will be greater.

For instance, it can easily leapfrog

some sacred barriers to lawmakers themselves. By tradition and

rule, lobbyists are physically barred from House and Senate floors

during session. But there is no rule to block their tweets or

e-mails or Facebook messages.

Reps. Bennett and Miller said they have

yet to be lobbied via Twitter but both see the potential. They also

concede that lobbyists and lobbyists who use technology well will

have an advantage.

For now, though, the Capitol’s Twitter

community is still building speed.

During Thursday’s floor debate over

Vance’s bill, as the tweets rolled across Bennett’s and Miller’s

laptop screens, teenage pages sorted through stacks of color-coded

paper, each containing phone or e-mail messages. Like worker bees,

they weaved through the rows of desks to deliver the notes.

Most lawmakers don’t read them after

the session ends, which on Thursday was well after 5 p.m. It was an

exhausting day, one that began with hearings on dozens of bills in

committees. On the floor, legislators churned through dozens more,

at a rate of one bill every four or five minutes – or roughly one

bill for every five or six tweets.

They broke for more committee meetings,

but as they reconvened later to finish voting, Greer was railing on

#mtleg against testimony attributing Montana’s attraction as a

tourist destination to the “fact” that English is the world’s

primary language.

Dogiakos instantly tweeted some

background: “47 million Americans 5 and older used a language other

than English in 2000.”

In the midst of this, Rep. Bennett’s

first-ever bill arrived on the floor for debate. After a quick

opening and no discussion it came time to vote. The electronic

board that tallies House votes turned green, indicating the

measure’s passage.

Before his colleagues could applaud

Bennett’s first legislative success, Democratic House staffer

Chavvahn Gade had already tweeted the news:

“Bryce Bennett’s first bill passes!!

#mtleg.”