Hillary, Queen of Twitter

So, Hillary Clinton has had a Twitter account since June 10! Her first tweet was re-tweeted 11,031 times. Within a few days, the former “SecState” amassed over 614,000 followers, which she gained more rapidly than either Pope Francis or Bill Clinton. The most interesting thing is the way that she described herself: “Wife, mom, lawyer, women & kids advocate, FLOAR, FLOTUS, US Senator, SecState, author, dog owner, hair icon, pantsuit aficionado, glass ceiling cracker, TBD…” A bio that requires an interpretation. Translation:

Hillary defines herself as—in this order—wife, mother, lawyer, advocate for women and children, first lady of Arkansas, first lady of the United States, senator (of New York), secretary of state, author, dog owner, hair icon, pantsuit aficionado, glass ceiling cracker and “to be determined” meaning, we’ll see what’s next.

Because nothing is simple, Hillary’s bio was changed at least six times. In a prior version, the role of “mom” came before “wife.” For her photo, she chose a picture taken by Diana Walker of Time magazine, where she is reading her Blackberry in a C17 plane traveling from Malta to Tripoli.

For now, the tweet gives no indication of the former Madame Secretary’s plans. It describes her life with Bill and Chelsea; and how she gives speeches at $200,000 a pop. That’s the same rate Bill earned last year, the modest sum of $17 million thanks to his lectures, particularly those given abroad, according to The New York Times. His record: $700,000 for a speech at a company in Lagos, Nigeria. Since the Clintons have left the White House, their lecture business has earned them $100 million since 2001, again according to The New York Times.

The lecture circuit is a means for Hillary to meet with relatively important groups, but on a human scale, it allows her to bring awareness to their causes, establish contacts and pass along her message, in case she becomes a candidate in 2016.

Republicans, for their part, have begun to follow these interventions from the ex-“SecState” with interest, keeping track of which groups’ invitations she accepts, as a way of holding her accountable in the event of a conflict of interest during a possible future campaign.