Candidates Try to Stage Viral Moments

Washington Post: “After Washington Gov. Jay Inslee released a $9 trillion climate plan last month, his staffers noticed the plan had been parodied twice in one week by the Onion, a popular satirical website. They began brainstorming a ‘clever and self-deprecating’ response in case it happened again.”

“Sure enough, a week later the Onion again poked fun at Inslee, parodying his youth-friendly message by saying he had decided to run for president only after five teenagers ‘pressed enchanted rings together to call him into existence.’ Inslee responded quickly with a deadpan tweet: ‘That was supposed to be off the record.’ It instantly became one of Inslee’s most popular Twitter posts; aides followed it up with a fundraising appeal, which helped push the candidate across the 65,000-donor threshold to qualify for the first Democratic debates.”