The Fix: @MentionMachine
The 2012 Republican presidential campaign — in tweets.
The Fix posse — like most of the political world — are Twitter addicts. It’s become the medium through which all political news breaks. You literally cannot cover the campaign without keeping an eye — and sometimes both eyes — on Twitter.
But, how reflective is Twitter of the various ups and downs of a campaign that has been a rollercoaster ride since voters started voting on Jan. 3 in Iowa?
Pretty reflective, it turns out. Check out the chart below that tracks the peaks and valleys of the campaign through the Twitter traffic around each of the four Republican candidates.
Make sure to check out the full screen chart if you want a closer look.
Why Rick Santorum (really) won Iowa
The near-tie in Tuesday night’s Iowa Republican caucuses left the political world wondering: Who really won?
By the numbers, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney did — claiming 30,015 votes to 30,008 for former Pennsylvania senator R ick Santorum.
But, measured by the candidate who gained the most from what happened in Iowa, it’s clear that Santorum emerged victorious.
The Ron Paul phenomenon — in one graph
Whether or not Texas Rep. Ron Paul win the Iowa caucuses on Tuesday, he is, without question, the candidate that draws the most reaction — both positive and negative.
Paul’s backers would, literally, walk over hot coals for the man. His detractors tend to roll their eyes when talk of Paul as a serious candidate is broached. (The latter sentiment was summed up nicely by Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen who headlined a recent piece: “Seriously, Iowa? Ron Paul?”)
Republican debate: Preview from the Twitterverse | @MentionMachine
The 2012 Republican candidates will take the stage next Tuesday, Oct. 11 for the Washington Post/Bloomberg debate in which they will compete to see which one has the better plan to save the struggling U.S. economy.
Before the moderators get their chance to grill the candidates on taxes, jobs, the deficit, we took stock of the buzz from the Twitterverse about each candidate on those issues.
Globalpoint measured 12,000 tweets (1,500 per candidate) sent between Monday and Tuesday afternoon that mention each candidate participating in the debate to see how concerned the Twitterverse is with their stances on “taxes” and “jobs.”
What does the Twitterverse think of Warren Buffett’s secretary? | @MentionMachine
Past Mention Machines examined the GOP presidential candidates’ performance on the social web. But in recent weeks, another figure has emerged - someone who isn’t running for anything but who is likely to be a consistent presence on the political landscape for awhile: Warren Buffett’s secretary.
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett introduced his secretary in August in a New York Times op-ed, saying others in his office paid a higher tax rate than he did. President Obama then codified the “Buffett Rule” in the economic plan he released earlier this month by saying: “No household making over $1 million annually should pay a smaller share of its income in taxes than middle-class families pay.”
@MentionMachine: The GOP Debate
The Republican presidential candidates gathered on the same stage for the the first time on Wednesday since current frontrunner Rick Perry joined the field.
Perry’s debut was good for MSNBC, which broadcast the debate and earned the highest ratings of any of the four debates thus far (5.4 million viewers), the Los Angeles Times reported. Was Twitter volume higher too?
Topsy measured the candidates’ mentions on Twitter for the four hours before the debate, during it, and for the four hours after (from 4 p.m. EST on Wednesday until 1:45 a.m. EST Thursday) and analyzed what people were saying in 140 characters about the candidates. Here’s a look at what it found.
Ron Paul churns in the @MentionMachine
For someone who complained about a lack of media attention, Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul got plenty from The Washington Post this week.
Our ombudsman, Patrick B. Pexton, devoted this past weekend’s column to our coverage of Paul and concluded the Post had a “sparse” record.
The Fix responded with this post explaining why the media might be wary of putting Paul on heavy rotation on its pages.
And, after the media coverage of the lack of Paul media coverage, our media blogger Erik Wemple explained that media coverage about lack of media coverage is still media coverage.
Still with me? No? Let’s just look at what the numbers say.
Globalpoint, a product of Columbia, Mo.-based Idea Works, combed 7,000 media sites worldwide for Paul mentions over the past few weeks, including just before and after the critical Ames Straw Poll held on Aug. 13.
Although Paul came in a very close second to fellow Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.) in the straw poll, the data from Globalpoint indicated that the Texas congressman earned far fewer mentions than his Minnesota colleague in the week surrounding the poll. Bachmann was mentioned 5,650 times between Aug. 11 and 17, while Paul’s mentions lingered at 3,112.
Blog Contributors
Chris Cillizza
Chris Cillizza is founder and editor of The Fix, a leading blog on state and national politics. He is the author of The Gospel According to the Fix: An Insider’s Guide to a Less than Holy World of Politics and an MSNBC contributor and political analyst. He also regularly appears on NBC and NPR’s The Diane Rehm Show. He joined The Post in 2005 and was named one of the top 50 journalists by Washingtonian in 2009.
Juliet Eilperin
Juliet Eilperin covers the White House for the Washington Post. She served as the Post's House of Representatives reporter from 1998-2004, covering the impeachment of Bill Clinton, lobbying, legislation, and five national congressional campaigns. Since 2004 she has been one of the country’s leading reporters covering the environment, reporting on science, policy and politics in areas including climate change, oceans, and air quality. She is the author of two books, "Fight Club Politics: How Partisanship is Poisoning the House of Representatives," and "Demon Fish: Travels Through the Hidden World of Sharks." Follow her on Twitter.
Ed O’Keefe
Ed O’Keefe covers Congress and politics for the Washington Post. He previously covered the 2008 and 2012 campaigns and reported on federal agencies and federal employees as author of The Federal Eye blog. Follow Ed on Twitter.
Aaron Blake
Aaron Blake covers national politics at the Washington Post, where he writes regularly for “The Fix,” the Post’s top political blog. A Minnesota native and summa cum laude graduate of the University of Minnesota, Aaron has also written about politics for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and The Hill newspaper. Aaron and his wife, Danielle, live in Annandale, Va. Follow him on Twitter.
Sean Sullivan
Sean Sullivan covers national politics for “The Fix.” Prior to joining the Washington Post in the summer of 2012, Sean was the editor of Hotline On Call, National Journal Hotline’s politics blog. He has also worked for NHK Japan Public Broadcasting and ABC News. Sean is a graduate of Hamilton College, where he received a degree in Philosophy. He lives in Washington, D.C. Follow Sean on Twitter.
Scott Clement
Scott Clement is a survey research analyst for Capital Insight, the independent polling group of Washington Post Media. Scott specializes in public opinion about politics, election campaigns and public policy. He helps design and analyze all Washington Post polls, including the Washington Post-ABC News poll. Follow Scott on Twitter.
Rachel Weiner
Rachel Weiner covers national politics for Post Politics and The Fix. She came to the Washington Post in 2010 as a political web editor and anchored the Post's 2012 election blog. She was previously a web editor at The Huffington Post. Follow her on Twitter.
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