Senators are “going public” with their rhetorical agenda, communicating a style of representation that will resonate with their individual constituencies. Senators’ tweets tell us what kind of representative they want to present themselves as, using the platform to develop a reputation as a policy wonk, a constituent servant, or a partisan warrior. This chapter explores the role of strategic communication in the Senate through the lens of Twitter and explains why these short and not-so-sweet messages have become an integral part of senators’ political communication. Twitter, unlike alternative media options, offers senators outsized discretion with minimal costs over the information a networked, digital constituency receives on a daily basis. Senators are systematically presenting themselves to voters through their rhetorical agendas, using the unconstrained and low-cost advantages of Twitter to signal their priorities in ways that resonate with a senator’s preferred constituency.
