The Week on Politwoops: funk on the Hill, confusion in Colorado and more

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Video via YouTube.

Happy Friday afternoon and please enjoy this brief review of some notable deletions from U.S. politicians archived by our Politwoops project. We start with a deletion from the official account of Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., that read, “#nowplaying ♪ Mind Blowing Decisions by Heatwave” with a link to the 1978 song on iTunes. The deletion came just two minutes after being tweeted and we applaud any member of Congress or their staff that kicks off the legislative day with such a smooth funky hit. We’ve embedded the song to the right and opted for the extended version so you can enjoy it while you finish reading the roundup.

The campaign account for Bob Beauprez, a Republican candidate for Governor of Colorado, made a number of missteps on Twitter this week, some garnering chuckles and others outrage. The first was a retweet of a joke referencing Mitt Romney’s famous 47% comment that said, “That should win you 47% of the vote. MT @bobbeauprez: “Bob is committed to the future.” -todays endorsement by Gov Romney #COpolitics #COGov.” Following the deletion someone responded, “@CRobertBuchanan I don’t think Bob’s campaign understood that you were joking…

On Wednesday during a conversation with a talk radio show, his campaign Twitter account deleted a tweet that said “.@710KNUS “@hickforco = Hug a Tug!” He hasn’t made us safer. #copolitics #ivoterepublican” and then replaced it with a version saying, “.@710KNUS “Hickenlooper only redefined terms in our prisons. Not fixed major problems. He has failed to lead.” #copolitics #ivoterepublican.” The change of message may be due to the response to the initial tweet, such as “@bobbeauprez You are blaming Tom Clements for Tom Clements’ death again? You piece of filth. @710KNUS #copolitics” and “@bobbeauprez Clements was in charge of your “hug a thug” program. You are a ghoul who doesn’t deserve public office. @710KNUS #copolitics.” Amazingly, Mr. Beauprez’s account retweeted that second one only to delete it seven seconds later. These antics caught by Politwoops got the attention of Twitchy, which wrote an article called, “Colo. gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez still a bit confused about how to use Twitter.”

Other notable deletions this week include one from our old friend Champ Edmunds, a Republican Senate candidate in Montana, who deleted his response to someone asking “@champedmunds Have you read the Hunger Games?” which was “@Jessie_Devine yes, all three books.” He deleted this answer after a follow-up question that asked “@champedmunds What’s your stance on marriage equality?” to which he never responded. The questioner then tweeted, “I find it extremely telling that @champedmunds didn’t answer my question: what’s your position on marriage equality??” Cutting across the political spectrum, Trish Causey, a Democratic candidate for the House from Mississippi, deleted a tweet that linked to a rather inappropriate College Humor video with the message, “Intactivists should watch: http://t.co/Itq3g4ICD7. #i2 :-) @jakelodwick @adamconover.” And finally, Rep. Rich Hudson, R-N.C., deleted a tweet with a photo of his mother that said, “Happy Birthday to all the Moms. Out there! God blessed me with one of the best.

Feel free to stick around if the music is still playing and, as always, please drop us a line if there’s an account we’re missing in Politwoops.