President Obama is expected to give his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention tonight at 10:30pm EST (7:30pm PST). Leading up to his speech, his campaign has invested a substantial amount of time, money, and energy into the social network Twitter.

Following in Mitt Romney’s footsteps, Obama’s campaign has promoted a hashtag to correspond with today’s speech, #Forward2012. Promoted tweets can cost up to $120,000, according to Ad Age, and appear on the left column of Twitter with a purple arrow to indicate the hashtag is promoted. Going into tonight’s prime-time coverage, other trending topics include #DNC2012, #FNO, and #VMA, showcasing Obama’s competition with both New York Fashion Week and MTV’s Video Music Awards.

"Your vote is precious. Your vote is the most powerful non-violent tool to create a more perfect union." -Rep. John Lewis. #Forward2012

— MoveOn.org (@MoveOn) September 6, 2012

Bill Clinton rightfully said: 'I never hated Republicans the way some of them hate our President now.' Somebody had to say it! #Forward2012

— jodi gomes (@jodigomes) September 6, 2012

43 months of unemployment above 8%! Lets go #Forward2012 and make it 15%!

— Against Obama (@against_obama) September 6, 2012

POTUS 42: "I want to elect a man who's cool on the outside, but burns for America on the inside." #FORWARD2012

— OFA WI (@OFA_WI) September 6, 2012

Forward to financial collapse and more broken promises #Forward2012

— Dre (@mangano1974) September 6, 2012

Up against stiff competition, former president Bill Clinton edged out the National Football League’s season kickoff game on NBC, receiving more TV viewers for yesterday’s speech than the game. Clinton also won the Twitter battle, sparking over 22,000 tweets per minute.

Can Obama compete with one of the music industry’s biggest nights?