A DEEPER DIVE INTO CHUCK GRASSLEY’S TWITTER

What exactly is the Windsor Heights Dairy Queen good for? It turns out, connecting with constituents in new and innovative ways.

WORDS BY NASH LINSLEY | DESIGN BY LILA JOHNSON

Iowa. Home to many things such as the World’s Largest Truckstop, cornfields, (or bean fields, depending on the season), and the first caucus every election cycle.

Iowa is also known for being home to Sen. Chuck Grassley.

Being a legislator for Iowa over the last 50 years in one capacity or another, it’s apparent that Grassley has a history with not only Iowa but with politics as well. He’s served in the Iowa House of Representatives, The United States House of Representatives, and the United States Senate.

When Grassley was first elected to the Iowa House, American politics were much different than they are today. Grassley has been a part of every major event that has shaped modern America since he was first elected in 1959—from the immersion of televised presidential debates in 1960 to the use of political ads to the more modern-day example of social media and its ties to politics.

Twitter is a prominent example of how politics and social media have blended and made politics more engaging for people just by having access to the internet. When this direct link to representatives in democracy was established, it provided a more community-based approach on how elected officials are able to campaign and engage with their supporters.

Shortly after Twitter was first released in July 2006, Grassley joined in November 2007. Twitter looks much different today than it did back then, but Grassley still uses Twitter as any other 87-year-old-man would. He shares every part of his life, no matter how big or small, that emulates the early days of the internet.

Taylor Foy is the communications director for Grassley and sees his social media habits up close.

“Sen. Grassley was an early adopter of Twitter, and while many lawmakers’ accounts are managed by their communications team, Grassley has always maintained his own Twitter account,” Foy said.

Politics and Twitter have intertwined like a fine wine and 8 oz. cut of filet mignon, and Grassley is no stranger to this pairing. Since he first joined Twitter, he has tweeted nearly 10,000 times. The subjects of his tweets range from updates on his 99 county meetings, alerting his followers about a dead “pidgin” in his yard, and discrediting the History Channel for their false advertisement since they only show Pawn Stars and Counting Cars.

However, the trope that spans across a majority of his tweets is his profound use of shorthands. These shorthands reflect an image of a time when the internet was still young and the

threat of a global “pandemic was not on everyone’s mind. HIS UNIQUE TWITTER

“His unique SHORTHAND HAS Twitter shorthand BECOME A BIT OF A has become a bit TRADEMARK, WITH of a trademark, with many MANY FOLLOWERS followers and AND MEDIA FINDING IT media finding it MORE CHARMING OR more charming or entertaining than ENTERTAINING THAN anything else,” ANYTHING ELSE Foy said. TAYLOR FOY, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR SEN. GRASSLEY

Dr. Robert Leonard is the special news editor for KNIA/KRLS Radio in Marion County and has written pieces for The New York Times, TIME, and USA Today, among other publications across the country. Grassley and Leonard have met over 200 times during his time in Iowa.

Leonard recognizes the effectiveness of Grassley’s simple messaging.

“Twitter is full [GRASSLEY] TWEETS of politicians using LIKE EARLY TWITTER AND the platform to

HE IS NOT USING IT AS send jabs back and forth and can

POLITICAL WEAPONRY be seen as widely DR. ROBERT LEONARD, KNIA/KRLS RADIO SPECIAL NEWS EDITOR unprofessional. This is where Grassley stands out in politics because he “tweets like early Twitter and he is not using it as political weaponry,” Leonard said.

Many politicians, such as Ted Cruz and Alexandria OcasioCortez, have used their Twitter accounts to spout off about certain issues to elicit an exaggerated response from the public. While some of the exchanges that happen on Twitter have transcended into the physical world, a lot of the back and forth stays there and never addresses where those opinions can make a difference in the lives of constituents.

Twitter is being used by politicians and public figures alike to establish a strong sense of community with their bases. The simplicity of Grassley’s tweets and his genuine small-town Iowa vibes are what make him so successful in current-day elections and amass a following of over 600,000 on Twitter. Without his personal Twitter account, he would not have the support that is needed for higher-up elected officials in today’s political world.

Without his adaptation to Twitter, who’s to say where Grassley may have ended up in the political sphere. Maybe he would still be the longest-serving Iowa senator, or maybe he would have lost his seat in the 15 years since Twitter was founded. Nevertheless, Grassley’s success in politics is a true testament to his downto-earth, Iowan character that has given him the edge over his opponents the last 50 years.