Pundits have made much of Cory Booker’s Twitter presence, with some praising his prolific use of the social media site, and others questioning whether the act is pure self-promotion.
Regardless, I couldn’t help but be intrigued by an exchange he had with an angry constituent on Twitter yesterday.
The constituent, who goes by the Twitter name LIL HAKIR HAS MY ♥ angrily expressed concerns about the murder rate in Newark, saying it was going to be “crazy this summer” and that she couldn’t even walk down the street or sit on her porch without worrying about getting shot.
Booker responded with a statistic about Newark’s declining murder rate, but acknowledged that, yes, the 21 percent drop is not enough. Others weighed in, some angrier than Lil Hakir, accusing the mayor of not caring about the murders.
The exchange went on for some time and throughout it all, Booker kept his cool and urged Lil Hakir to work with him. In the end, she agreed:
Self-promotion? Perhaps. And as New York magazine asked, “Should he really be spending this much time on Twitter, anyway?” But I like to think that Booker is authentic and that his constituents appreciate his active online presence. After all, isn’t that part of a mayor’s job—reaching out to his or her people and responding to their concerns? Perhaps more public leaders should follow Booker’s lead.
What do you think?
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
I know a lot of celebrities and politicians have Twitter accounts. Admittedly some have said they have staff members maintain them and have little knowledge as to what takes place on the account. Gov. Christie tweets as well and they same pretty basic new releases where Cory seem to be more interactive. If it is him as it seems to be to me, it is an excellent way to communicate with residents as long as the dialogue remains respectful and is constructive.
@Booker 2020 from Newark to the White House
Wow. A Black leader talking about a black issue.
Booker’s accessible, communicates, runs into fiery buildings, comforts accident victims and shovels snow.
Really, what more could you want from a Mayor.
In the rest of America however, Blacks live with a just announced almost 1% jump in unemployment from 13.6% to 14.4%!!!!
And our Black President hasn’t said a word. (Yes, I get that the Black President and his “people” fear him talking specifically about Black issues. Though I think it’s dumb. Why have a Black President if he’s scared to talk about Black issues?)
Imagine:
@PrezBHObama: 14.4%? wtf c’mon, we need jobs!
780,000 more women unemployed today than then Maobama took office. That’s from when he took office not since he was elected. That stat is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
I’m sure Mike will find a way to soften that stat.
Following up on an issue that people were concerned with on this site a while back, where foreclosed homes would be turned into affordable housing units throughout NJ.
Thankfully Gov. Christie vetoed that measure the other day.
These numbers are sad. The Democratic Underground- those crazy right-wingers- has it right:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002643912
Here are the official stats:
http://bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
Anyone remember 2010′s “Recovery Summer”?
Love the Zerohedge links, prof. One of the best financial news sites out there.
Remember this too, good prof: that unlike the incompetent hack in the White House now (ever so desperate to hold on to a job he has no real ability for, meaning governance in general let alone as POTUS), Booker is smart and honest enough to have given credit where it’s due to Romney for his and Bain Capital’s job-creation efforts.
At least he was until word came down from the White House to can the ruthless honesty.
But I’m still not sure that a big city Mayor of a complex, bleeding city like Newark shouldn’t have altogether better things to do than to engage in tweets with angry city residents (if that’s what they in fact are, I have some doubts) over his city’s crime rates.