National Review's @jimgeraghty: 'The president did not know…'

President Barack Obama speaks about the government shutdown and debt limit, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2013, in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington. The president called House Speaker John Boehner once again saying that he won't negotiate over reopening the government or must-pass legislation to prevent a US default on its obligations. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) (AP)

Politicians, operatives, White House officials, members of Congress—along with some snark artists—are debating, attacking, defending and kibitzing around the clock on Twitter. It’s a nonstop forum that is helping shape the political conversation.  In this daily feature, @laurenashburn will pick some of the best – and worst – political tweets you may have missed.

It’s Halloween season, and Republicans' fangs are out for the president (and when aren’t they?). This time they’re biting into a new Wall Street Journal report on his lack of engagement with the NSA surveillance program. National Review’s campaign correspondent Jim Geraghty leads the charge.

1.  Jim Geraghty ‏@jimgeraghty
“The president did not know about the Merkel spying. The president did not know about the exchange site problems. The president did not know…”

***

Here’s a prediction from a guy who ought to know. Patrick Ruffini, a Republican political consultant who helped push the party into the 21st century with his successful social media strategy, predicts some ka-ching coming for K Street types. Screw-ups in this town are gonna cost you – in more ways than one.

2. Patrick Ruffini ‏@PatrickRuffini
“Every left-aligned consultant and media buyer is going to make a killing on ads driving people to sign up for Obamacare.”

***

And from Molly Ball, The Atlantic’s politics writer, a question I’ve asked myself every time I go to the healthcare.gov site:

3. Molly Ball ‏@mollyesque
“What percentage of http://healthcare.gov  traffic is coming from reporters constantly checking to see if the site is working?”

***

What stranger political bedfellows could there be since Joe Lieberman endorsed John McCain in 2008? Try McCain and former Obama election architect David Axelrod, who is now the director of the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics. The two palled around spreading democracy in the Windy City.

4. David Axelrod ‏@davidaxelrod
“Thrilled to welcome @SenJohnMcCain to @UChiPolitics today. Lots to talk about. Huge student demand for tickets speaks to interest.”

***

And finally, a bit of housekeeping. Journalists are notorious for messy desks. Newspapers, press packets, books sent from PR firms, and apparently on Yahoo political director Chris Moody’s desk, a relic from, say, May to August 2011. That’s when a former Minnesota governor planned to run for president before changing his mind. C’mon Chris, I bet you can do better than that. Hanging chad?

5.  Chris Moody ‏@Chris_Moody
“You know it's time to clean your desk when you find a Tim Pawlenty oppo-research book buried in the heap.”

If you’d like to recommend your favorite political Twitter picks, email Lauren Ashburn laurenashburnFNC@yahoo.com or send her a tweet @laurenashburn with the hashtag #TwitterTalk.