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Billed as the first-ever Twitter debate for presidential candidates, a handful of Republicans took to their keyboards this afternoon answering complicated policy questions in tiny 140-character tweets. Surprise! It was not particularly edifying. "Who knew they could get shallower AND slower-paced than a TV debate?" tweeted debate observer John Tabin. It was, however, a somewhat innovative experiment, and that deserves some praise right off the bat. The event was sponsored by TeaPartyNet with conservative commentator S.E. Cupp moderating and fielding questions. Observers could follow the debate at 140Townhall.net which provided a filtered stream of tweets with just the debate participants. Laying down some ground rules, event organizer Andrew Hemingway told The New York Times that candidates are limited to three tweets per response. By and large, everyone obeyed the protocol. But here's what went wrong:
The introductions Definitely the most awkward (and amusing) stage was the moment Republican candidates were asked to introduce themselves. Given the constricting rules, very serious presidential candidates were forced to define their raison d'etre in a kind of grownup lol-omg-speak replacing words with letters. Here are a few examples from Michigan Rep. Thaddeus McCotter and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann: