Amid the drama and verbal sparring of the first Presidential debate, advocates for the poor had their fingers crossed. They were hoping that someone would take up the question of poverty.
Many had used the social network site Twitter in an attempt to insert the topic into the debate, joining a grassroots media campaign meant to create a national buzz – and push the candidates to think and talk about poverty.
“@NewsHour: Ask @BarackObama and @MittRomney how they will reduce poverty. We need to #TalkPoverty on Oct. 3rd debate,” Jim Wallis, an evangelical minister and president of Sojourners, a faith-based social justice organization had urged the night before, speaking to members of a national audience gathered to watch the premiere of a new film about poverty called “The Line” via live stream.
The Nation magazine and advocacy groups such as Half in Ten also urged people to join the #TalkPoverty discussion.
“What I want to know is: how will the words that are said and the positions that are staked out affect the 46 million people in our country living in poverty,” said Wallis on the Huffington Post on Oct. 2.
Shown worldwide in nearly 1,700 venues on Oct 2, the night before the debate, The Line is a new documentary film chronicling the new face of poverty in America by Emmy Award-winning producer Linda Midgett, known for the 2003 hit series Starting Over and 2000 documentary The Kennedy’s: The Curse of Power.
The 40-minute film examines the issue of poverty through the stories of four individuals. A laid off, single dad from the Chicago suburbs struggles to feed his kids through the local food pantry. A single mother on disability in Chicago’s west end tries to keep children away from violence. A Gulf Coast fisherman works in the wake of the environmental crisis that followed Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill. And a middle-aged man faces homelessness and job insecurity in North Carolina.
Work on the project began in February, and filming started in July. The film was rushed through production for release on the eve of the first presidential debate.
“The film was very intentional,” said Midgett. “We produced it to see if it could impact the way people vote.”
Angela Simms, who attended the D.C. premiere of The Line, thought the film would appeal only to those who already sympathize with the poor.
“To reach audiences less inclined to be supportive, I believe we’ll need to make a stronger case for the inherent interdependency of all people,” she said.
Still, the film and the #TalkPoverty initiative sparked a wide-ranging discussion on Twitter.
Followers waiting for debate moderator Jim Lehrer to ask a question about poverty were disappointed though. As the minutes ticked by, candidates continued to battle over jobs, taxes, entitlements, deficits, health care and the role of government.
The evening’s most tweeted moment, with 158,690 tweets, came at 9:53 p.m. when Lehrer interrupted Governor Mitt Romney’s segue remark, “Let’s talk about…” by saying, “Let’s not.”
Greg Kauffmann, contributing writer on poverty for The Nation tweeted, “Romney creates opening to #TalkPoverty— how best to help poor? Lehrer closes it. #talkpoverty.”
But did Romney plan to talk about poverty?
Colorlines.com reported that between the two of them, Obama and Romney said the words middle income or middle class 31 times. The candidates mentioned Medicaid, vouchers, food stamps and unemployment, but tiptoed around the word poverty without naming it.
At 10:18 p.m., Romney referred to “poor kids,” but corrected himself to say, “lower-income kids, rather.”
In the same minute, Catholic Democrats, (@CatholicDems) tweeted:
“Wow, apparently Romney has been told not to say word ‘”poor.”’ #denverdebates #talkpoverty.”
The hour-and-a-half long debate produced over 10 million tweets with 160,000 per minute. Twitter called the debate “the most tweeted event in political history.”
When the night was over, Wallis offered his own assessment on the Sojourner’s website.
“One thing is certain about last night: there was no clarifying discussion about what the policies Obama and Romney debated will mean for the Americans who are struggling the most.”
Supporters of the #TalkPoverty campaign are not giving up. They are already directing their tweets to the moderator of the Oct. 11 vice presidential debate, Martha Raddatz, senior foreign affairs correspondent for ABC News.
Reflecting upon the first debate but also looking forward, @jamdizzle said, “Well this is discouraging. Hopeful @marthraddatz is still checking twitter regularly!
@TalkPoverty #VPDebate.”
Raddatz, however, told the New York Times that she planning on avoiding Twitter as she prepares for the debate.
