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Loading ...techPresident’s got a potentially telling compilation of stats regarding overall internet activity involving John McCain’s candidacy. In short, it doesn’t bode well for the Republican frontrunner. These stats were taken before the ridiculous NYTimes story that caused an uproar.Candidate Website Traffic
Presumably, website visits show the level of interest that people have in learning more about a candidate, their background, and their stances on issues. I’d say a candidate’s site serves as the anchor of the entire online operation. Hitwise tallied the total number of visits to the three remaining GOP candidates - McCain, Mike Huckabee, and Ron Paul - and divided them up percentage wise. Here’s what they got:
Huckabee 50%
McCain 26%
Paul 25%
Now let’s take a look at the how all the candidates of both parties stack up against one another:
Barack Obama 44%
Hillary Clinton 26%
Mike Huckabee 16%
Ron Paul 8%
John McCain 8%
Mike Gravel 1%
McCain has gotten half of what his now leading primary opponent is getting. He’s getting less that one-third of what Hillary Clinton is getting. And Barack Obama, his likely opponent in the general election, is getting over 500% more visits.
Now let’s take a look at candidate mentions on blogs. This is for February 24 - a few days after the NYTimes story broke. Here, I’ll stick to the four remaining major candidates.
Obama 6,241
Clinton 5,667
McCain 2,268
Hukabee 704
OK, I don’t know how much of this relates to the constant drumbeat of news about the Democratic nomination with debates and all. But you’ve got a candidate from a major party that could be the next president who took a hit from a major news source this past week. Yet his blog mentions went directly up and then directly down before and after the story. While it may be somewhat good news for McCain that the buzz died down in the aftermath, it also potentially shows a lack of interest in his candidacy. Or,a fanatical interest in the Democratic race.
First of all, make sure you click through the above link to see the charts in action. Awesome stuff.
But when measurieng the culmulative views of YouTube videos of McCain, Huckabee, and Ron Paul, McCain comes in dead last for the January24-February 24 time period.
Ron Paul 13,431,957
Huckabee 5,506,203
McCain 2,049,048
That’s pathetic. Granted, we shouldn’t be measuring everything in terms of Ron Paul, but, to me, all of these stats clearly show a lack of passion for McCain’s candidacy. Come crunch time, this could affect important factors such as GOTV (Get-Out-The-Vote) strategies or down ballot candidates. Again, that doesn’t bode well for the GOP.
All of this may be somewhat reflective of theses factors.
1) Republicans often nominate the seeming heir to the thrown. The elder statesman. And many of the GOP voters don’t like this particular statesman.
2) The McCain candidacy itself is perhaps dangerously being run in the top-down command and control way that has hurt Hillary Clinton in her effort against Barack Obama.
3) It may also reflect the media’s absolute infatuation with the Democratic race. My own opinion on this is that that’s often the media - a bit biased/interested in the left. And this year there’s a great story attached to it.
McCain still has a helluva chance to be the next president. He’s well-known, reasonably well-liked and definitely respected. The presumptive Democratic nominee, true to his opponent’s words, hasn’t been vetted. And Hillary’s unfavorable ratings hover around 50% - outweighing her favorables.
But if the Democratic nominee doesn’t screw up badly, and McCain fails to arouse passion, the next president of the United States will be either born in or currently from Illinois.
Filed under: 2008 Elections, Cult of Personality, Election Strategy, Political Blogs, Political Strategy, Polling Data, Polling Strategy, Popular Culture, YouTube, YouTube Marketing, Youth Market
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I think that it is a critical element in the campaign. However, I think that the voting majority is not one to utilize the web much. Perhaps McCain’s support comes from corners of the country and areas that are not focused on using and interacting with the web.
What percentage of households have DSL - and therefore the capability to view videos? And if they do, where are they in the country? Large metropolitan cities that vote Democrat - Ron Paul is driven by the urban libertarian group and they are mostly young 20 and 30 somethings.
I think that it is an interesting gauge to look at but I am certainly not convinced that it it reflects the true strength of a candidate.
SAul
Saul
All true. My point here goes to the lack of passion. While Ron Paul certainly has a net-based passion, it’s not translating to votes. With McCain, it seems he’s become “acceptable”…but sometimes “acceptable” doens’t get people out to vote. Whereas Obama inspires devotion. Devotion gets votes.