--- title: Hillary Clinton's Twitter Campaign Strategy description: Hillary Clinton is using Twitter to avoid follow-up questions and nuanced debate on hot-button issues in the news. canonical: https://time.com/3693625/hillary-clinton-twitter-policy/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-03T16:34:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:43:29.473Z article:section: Politics og:title: Hillary's 140-Character Campaign Strategy og:description: She's pioneered a new way to use Twitter. og:url: https://time.com/3693625/hillary-clinton-twitter-policy/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdf85d0ba0a41bce1/69877d53cd6848112b0997d9/hillary-clinton-budget.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Hillary Rodham Clinton og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hillary's 140-Character Campaign Strategy twitter:description: She's pioneered a new way to use Twitter. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdf85d0ba0a41bce1/69877d53cd6848112b0997d9/hillary-clinton-budget.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hillary's 140-Character Campaign Strategy > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Feb 3, 2015 4:34 PM UTC  Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks at Georgetown University in Washington on Dec. 3, 2014. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks at Georgetown University in Washington on Dec. 3, 2014. Carolyn Kaster—AP by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Feb 3, 2015 4:34 PM UTC Hillary Clinton isn’t officially running for president and she isn’t exactly campaigning yet either. Since [last year’s book tour](http://time.com/2845937/hillary-clinton-book-tour-hard-choices/), her public appearances have been limited to speeches, both [paid](http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/hillary-clinton-adds-paid-speech-march-complicating-2016-timeline) and [unpaid](http://www.businessinsider.com/hillary-clinton-spoke-at-georgetown-and-hardly-anyone-showed-up-2014-12), and even [campaign events where she isn’t appearing](http://time.com/3600300/hillary-clinton-president-2016-ready-for-hillary/) are tightly controlled. That creates a supply-and-demand problem, though, when news breaks and the public wants to know where she stands on an issue. Enter Twitter. Though Clinton didn’t [join the social media platform](http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/10/hillary-clinton-joins-twitter/) until mid 2013, she’s pioneered a new way of using it to flesh out her campaign platform 140 characters at a time. It’s a great political strategy for her, though it leaves a bit to be desired among the public and the press. Clinton’s tweets come late in the news cycle, allowing her to score a quick point off Republican in-fighting after much of the debate has played out. They’re also tightly scripted, which means there’s no problem of going off-message or losing control of the story, like she did during what should have been a softball interview with NPR that [touched on her changing views](http://www.npr.org/2014/06/12/321313477/hillary-clinton-the-fresh-air-interview) on gay marriage. The 140-character limit on Twitter also means that Clinton’s pronouncements aren’t as substantive as they often seem at first. Without reporters asking follow-up questions, Clinton can make a rather general statement about, say, [being in favor of vaccination](http://time.com/3693294/hillary-clinton-childhood-vaccinations-medicine-immunizations-rand-paul-chris-christie/), without explaining [her past doubts](http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/02/03/hillary-clinton-likens-anti-vaxxers-to-science-deniers-the-earth-is-round-the-sky-is-blue-and-vaccineswork/). Or she can [criticize an attempt](http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-01-16/clinton-defends-doddfrank-as-republicans-move-to-change-law) to roll back the Dodd-Frank bank reforms without specifying exactly which changes to the law she would support or oppose. Judge for yourself. Below are some of the major policy positions Clinton has taken on Twitter. **Against the Supreme Court’s decision in the Hobby Lobby case:** > [](https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/483755538589556736) **In favor of raising the minimum wage:** > [](https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/518449653638234115) **In favor of childcare legislation:** > [](https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/535560212938518528) **In favor of President Obama’s immigration actions:** > [](https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/535605199705239552) **Against rolling back part of Dodd-Frank:** > [](https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/556163273738166272) **In favor of some of Obama’s economic ideas in the State of the Union:** > [](https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/557739125886169088) **In favor of vaccination:** > [](https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/562456798020386816) ### See an Intimate Portrait of Hillary Clinton  With an ice cream cone in hand, Hillary waves to the crowd in Weedsport, New York, as she heads to the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged in Auburn, New York, one of the stops on her Save America's Treasures tour, July 14, 1998. Diana Walker—Contour by Getty Images for TIME  Getting ready for President Clinton's second inaugural, Hillary gets her first glimpse of daughter Chelsea's short skirt. Jan. 20, 1997 Diana Walker—Contour by Getty Images for TIME  The President and the First Lady Share a private moment, one of their last in the Oval Office. Jan. 11, 2001. Diana Walker—Contour by Getty Images for TIME  Hillary checks her messages upon departure from Malta for the as-yet-undisclosed location, Tripoli, Oct. 18, 2011\. This photo was turned into a meme that circulated around the world. Diana Walker—Contour by Getty Images for TIME  Before an appearance with David Letterman, Hillary checks her BlackBerry while Diana Walker takes their picture. Feb. 4, 2008. Diana Walker—Contour by Getty Images for TIME  Hillary gathers her thoughts moments before her introduction at Nueva Esperanza Academy Charter High School in Philadelphia. Apr. 18, 2008. Diana Walker—Contour by Getty Images for TIME  Diana Walker—Contour by Getty Images for TIME  Hillary walks up the steps of the US Capitol to meet with Senate leaders. May 16, 2006. Diana Walker—Contour by Getty Images for TIME  Hillary enters a Super Bowl party at a bar and grill in St. Paul Minnesota, where she watches the New York Giants win the game, Feb. 3, 2008. 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