RNC Speeches Reinforce #WeBuiltIt Twitter Theme

Tampa, FL – The promise of the Republican National Convention’s Twitter-ready daily slogans was evident last night here in Tampa. As GOP politicians spoke alongside an azure wall emblazoned with the “We Built It” label for the day, many stuck to entrepreneurial themes. And, some dashed off tweets featuring those themes coupled with the #WeBuiltIt hashtag – or sometimes exact lines from their speeches – around the same time that they spoke.

Before Sher Valenzuela, candidate for lieutenant governor of Delaware, shared the story of her husband building an upholstery business, country crooner Lane Turner entertained the crowd with his conveniently named twangy tune, “I Built It.”

Kelly Ayote, Senator from New Hampshire told the tale of her husband returning from Iraq to start a snow plowing business. “President Obama has never even run a lemonade stand – and it shows. #GOPConvention #webuiltit,” she tweeted last night, after speaking the same words at the podium.

One of the evening’s stars, Mitt Romney’s wife Ann, also tweeted a message verbatim from her well-received speech, complementing it with the requisite hashtag. “@MittRomney is the man who will work harder than anyone so that we can work a little less hard. #GOP2012 #WeBuiltIt.”

However, the “#WeBuiltIt” tag hasn’t picked up enough steam to trend despite the Romney camp paying to promote several tweets using it. On Twitter, the majority of people using it have been media, the Romney campaign, and surrogates, or detractors.

#WeBuiltIt This city. On Rock and Roll. After applying for a federal grant, and using several day laborers to set the foundation.

— bobservo (@bobservo) August 29, 2012

.@barackobama looks at government as the source of our greatness. I look at the American people as the source of our greatness. #WeBuiltIt

— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) August 29, 2012