Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 17, 2015, following policy luncheon. From left are, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Thune, and Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.(AP Photo/Molly Riley)

You can already watch politicians give earnest, impassioned and long-winded speeches on C-SPAN any time of day or night. But now, that messaging is coming to you — on social media.

Two Republican lawmakers are attempting to be the vanguard for this brave new future. On Thursday at 7 p.m. Eastern, Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kans.) tested out Periscope, Twitter's new tool for live-streaming what you're doing.

What did they talk about? Only the most exciting of subjects: The federal budget and net neutrality. Viewers were able to watch the livestream from the Senate Commerce Committee's Twitter feed.

"Sen. Thune is always interested in new technology and tried Meerkat recently," a Republican aide told the Post.

Twitter unveiled its app weeks after an alternative service, Meerkat, took the social media world by storm. But Meerkat has a drawback: You can't save the live videos you post online. Periscope is Twitter's stab at putting live video streaming into the hands of ordinary people.

This is just the beginning of a bigger wave in direct political messaging. Candidates will Periscope their campaign stops. Lawmakers will Periscope insta-statements from the Capitol. Even press conferences — actually, strike that. With Periscope, officials get to circumvent the press altogether. And that may be the biggest draw of all.