‘Kristi Pelosi’: Facebookers respond to SD’s delegation on the fiscal cliff
All three of South Dakota’s members of Congress voted for the controversial fiscal cliff deal, that continues most but not all of the Bush-era tax rates, lets the payroll tax expire and includes some extra stimulus spending Obama fought for.
How’s that decision playing with voters? I went on to their Facebook pages to find out, after the jump:
Rep. Kristi Noem, a Republican, posted a defense of her vote on her campaign Facebook page. It’s got 151 comments, 294 “likes” and has been shared 23 times, as of this writing:
The fiscal cliff vote protected 99 percent of South Dakotans from President Obama reaching into their pockets and taking more of their hard-earned money to subsidize his continued deficit spending. As a member of the political party that does not control Washington, DC, I’m here for damage control. I won’t stand by and allow this President to bring more uncertainty into this country by preventing farm families from passing on their family businesses and hard-working moms and dads from being able to put food on their tables. Now is the time for President Obama and Democrats in Congress to work with Republicans on spending reform so we can get serious about providing the leadership the American people so desperately need.
The likes are a good sign for Noem. The comments? Not so much.
A few of the comments under this post are supportive of Noem’s vote:
But easily three quarters of the comments, if not as many as 90 percent of them, are critical of Noem, sometimes in very harsh terms — and most of them with a criticism from the right:
View the entire comment string, as of late afternoon today, here. Some profane language.
Sen. John Thune, a Republican, hasn’t posted a specific comment on his fiscal cliff vote on his Facebook page. But commenters have weighed in on a pre-vote Sunday post, criticizing Democrats for wanting to raise taxes to pay for more spending. I count about 30 to 40 comments on there after the vote. Like Noem, a few of those are supporting Thune:
But most are criticism from the right:
Here’s a screenshot of Thune’s entire post-vote Facebook thread.
Sen. Tim Johnson, a Democrat, put up a brief defense of his yes vote on his Facebook page.
He got off much easier than Noem and Thune. Only one Facebook commenter criticized Johnson for voting yes, and that in relatively mild terms.
Of course, that person was also the only person to comment on Johnson’s post:
The South Dakota Democrat has much, much less involvement on his Facebook page than Noem and Thune, with just 1,685 likes compared to 18,875 for Noem and 75,430 for Thune.
Is it better to be hated or ignored? South Dakota’s delegation may be finding out.
