Hillary Clinton campaign’s deputy digital director said Friday that the White House’s online outreach is a model for how public figures can connect with voters, offering a hint into how the Democratic frontrunner will Instagram, Tweet, and email during the 2016 race.
Speaking during a panel at Netroots Nation, a convention of liberal activists in Phoenix, Jenna Lowenstein pointed to the increasing importance of using the web to create a feeling of intimacy with voters.
“You can have a candidate who everyone loves and wants to sit down and have a drink with them, 99% of people aren’t going to be able to do that. Digital is an opportunity,” Lowenstein said “to be a proxy of that.”
Lowenstein said the White House has been notably effective at different kinds of digital outreach, pointing to Obama’s hour-long interview with Marc Maron, and the president unveiling his proposal for free community college in a nine-second Vine.
“When the president rolled out free community college, they did it in this Vine and it was the perfect delivery mechanism,” said Lowenstein. “It was kind of this badass moment where the president was sitting on Air Force One and in 9 seconds explained the policy.”
Read more: Hillary Clinton Launches a More Personal Campaign
The Clinton campaign has projected its candidates’ persona online as personable, funny, and approachable. Clinton’s first Instagram was a photo of pantsuits with a tongue-in-cheek hashtag of the title of her book, “Hard Choices,” and the campaign has frequently posted childhood pictures of Clinton.
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