Which 2012’er is winning the Internet?
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) won the Ames Straw Poll on Saturday and former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty has already dropped out of the race after a disappointing third-place finish. While the straw-poll results are an important part of the campaign, they are not always an accurate predictor of the evenual Republican nominee against President Obama.
But how are the candidates faring on an even bigger stage? The Post used three tools to measure which of the candidates participating in the weekend’s straw poll is winning the war for Internet buzz.
We used two free online tools to reach these findings (which were measured over the course of the past month). Klout scores measure how powerful Twitter users are based on their reach and the level of influence they have on their network of followers. Herman Cain was the king of Klout.
We also used a tool called Social Mention to get a grip on the feelings about the candidates on Twitter and Facebook.
The results showed Newt Gingrich with the highest negative rating (still, a pretty low negative of 13 percent), and Herman Cain with the highest positive rating at 25 percent. Neither has much of a chance of winning the straw poll or the presidential race at this point. But most people (over 60 percent in all cases) had neutral things to say about the contenders; maybe politicians aren’t truly that unpopular?
Finally, HighBeam Research looked at the number of times the GOP candidates were mentioned in the media using its research database that includes 6,500 journals, magazines, newspapers and transcripts.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Bachmann topped the bunch, with 979 mentions. Front-runner Mitt Romney trailed slightly behind with 725 mentions, and Tim Pawlenty was far behind at just 448 mentions.Take from that what you will.
Who do you think is doing the best job of grabbing media attention and winning support online? Tell us your thoughts and we’ll update our post with the straw poll winners on Monday.
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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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