Paul, Obama Dominate The Webb
December 11, 2007
If all the elections, both primary and general, were held today it appears that Hillary Clinton(D) would narrowly defeat Rudy Guiliani(R) for the Presidency. However, if the election were held online, it appears that Ron Paul(R) would crush Barack Obama(D).
Barack Obama is currently dominating the internet campaigning for the Democrats. He receives about twenty-five percent more viewing time on the Web than Hillary, and nearly double that of the other Democratic candidates and the Republican front-runners.
However, while Barack Obama’s Web 2.0 presence is impressive, it is nothing compared to the 70-year-old Congresman from Texas, Ron Paul. He receives double the amount of viewing time as Barack Obama and has received more grassroots fundraising money online than any other candidate.
What I am curious about is why the oldest and most plain-spoken candidate is absolutely dominating the newest and most dynamic form of media? And will domination of the internet matter in this campaign? For all the hype over Web 2.0 in the 2008 elections, the clear online front-runner, Mr. Paul, is only polling around 5%. Is Ron Paul going to suddenly be catapulted to the front of the pack by his massive web presence? Or will his online success go the way of Howard Dean’s?
Ron Paul would be clobbered in a national election. Think Reagan vs. Mondale, with Paul playing the part of Mondale.
It would be worse than that in terms of vote count. Paul might carry more states.
Huckabee is doing pretty well online as well.