American (2012). In his article for titled Obama Say That Slate, Dream’” “Memewatch: Did What They David Weigel concluded by quipping: Successful People Didn’t Earn Have?,” political journalism means waiting for politicians to say things the wrong way, and “High-level then making progressively bigger fusses about (2012). He was prescient: within the week that” opponents, through mass and social media, had successfully transformed Obama’s “you didn’t build into a full-blown political spectacle. that” The Romney campaign contributed to building the momentum of this spectacle by holding twenty-four events on July 25 with small business owners in multiple swing states (Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Virginia, Ohio, Iowa, Missouri, North Carolina, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Nevada). They also produced a television advertisement spotlighting small business owners and their visceral reactions to remark (see Horsley Obama’s 2012). Additionally, a new section of the official Romney campaign website called By “Built was created and By merchandise was produced. These t-shirts, posters, and Us” “Built Us” buttons displaying slogans such as build my business, I were pitched “Government didn’t did” by son, Tagg, who explained: By Us is a rallying cry, and also a celebration of Romney’s “Built the people who truly make America think we can all agree we need a President work,” adding, “I who embraces success, instead of (quoted in 2012). CNN.com demonizing it” While these the attention of mass media, the oppositional “pseudo-events” caught narrative quickly took on a life of its own in the hands of conservative radio and cable TV commentators, social media, and the blogosphere. Within a day, #StupidThingsObamaWouldSay became one of the most popular hashtags on Twitter, with tweets parodying remark Obama’s (“If you & your wife had a baby, you father it. you have an Olympic Gold didn’t Others did.” “If Medal in an individual event, you win it. Others named it the The Daily Beast didn’t did.”).
American Dream’” (2012). In his article for Slate, titled “Memewatch: Did Obama Say That Successful People Didn’t Earn What They Have?,” David Weigel concluded by quipping: “High-level political journalism means waiting for politicians to say things the wrong way, and then making progressively bigger fusses about that” (2012). He was prescient: within the week Obama’s opponents, through mass and social media, had successfully transformed “you didn’t build that” into a full-blown political spectacle. The Romney campaign contributed to building the momentum of this spectacle by holding twenty-four events on July 25 with small business owners in multiple swing states (Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Virginia, Ohio, Iowa, Missouri, North Carolina, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Nevada). They also produced a television advertisement spotlighting small business owners and their visceral reactions to Obama’s remark (see Horsley 2012). Additionally, a new section of the official Romney campaign website called “Built By Us” was created and “Built By Us” merchandise was produced. These t-shirts, posters, and buttons displaying slogans such as “Government didn’t build my business, I did” were pitched by Romney’s son, Tagg, who explained: “Built By Us is a rallying cry, and also a celebration of the people who truly make America work,” adding, “I think we can all agree we need a President who embraces success, instead of demonizing it” (quoted in CNN.com 2012). While these “pseudo-events” caught the attention of mass media, the oppositional narrative quickly took on a life of its own in the hands of conservative radio and cable TV commentators, social media, and the blogosphere. Within a day, #StupidThingsObamaWouldSay became one of the most popular hashtags on Twitter, with tweets parodying Obama’s remark (“If you & your wife had a baby, you didn’t father it. Others did.” “If you have an Olympic Gold Medal in an individual event, you didn’t win it. Others did.”). The Daily Beast named it the
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