Candidate FaceTime in December: Obama Surges; Religion boosts GOP Rivals
Written by Matt Pace (contact - e-mail) -- January 8th, 2008 |
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The American public’s increasing interest in the presidential election helped the candidates increase their online FaceTime with voters by an average of 25% in December.
Ron Paul continued to lead all candidates while Mike Huckabee’s surge continued thanks, in part, to publicity surrounding his controversial Christmas message. Mitt Romney’s speech on his faith helped the former Massachusetts Governor double his FaceTime from November, the largest percentage gain for any candidate. Among Democrats there was evidence of an Oprah Winfrey-aided pre-Iowa surge for Barack Obama, whose FaceTime increased 79%, while rivals Hillary Clinton and John Edwards lagged.
The table below shows each candidate’s FaceTime in December, their share of their party’s FaceTime, and the percentage of all hours spent with a candidate that occurred on his or her official website; the latter being a bellwether of grass-roots support. Following the table are charts comparing monthly FaceTime share by candidate during the past year.
December Highlights:
- Obama’s success in rallying grassroots supporters started paying handsome dividends in December as he grabbed nearly half of his party’s FaceTime. What’s more, 40% of Obama’s FaceTime occurred on sites other than his official website. In fact, the amount of FaceTime Obama earned offsite rivaled Clinton’s total FaceTime which was up only 4% last month. Since announcing her candidacy last January, Clinton has failed to captivate supporters as evidenced by her inability to significantly grow her web presence. Her site traffic has trended at levels reached a year ago in contrast to rivals from both parties who over the past year have increasingly expanded their online footprints.
- Religion had a noticeable impact on the GOP side of the election in December. Mitt Romney’s long anticipated speech on “Faith in America,” in which he defended his Mormon faith, helped him attract 120% more visitors to his website and double his FaceTime. Rival Mike Huckabee set off a conspiracy firestorm that generated more free publicity for his cash-strapped campaign with his “What Really Matters” (a.k.a. floating cross) video. Thanks in part to the video, Huckabee grabbed 31% of all GOP FaceTime last month.
- Rudy Giuliani’s risky decision to skip the early contest states and wait until Super Duper Tuesday on February 5th to make his move, contributed to the former New York mayor ranking at the bottom of all of the top tier candidates in terms of FaceTime in December, down 19% from November. If Giuliani can’t muscle GOP FaceTime away from rivals in January, he could be severely handicapped by the time next month’s 24 state battle royale arrives.
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January 8th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
I constantly see Ran Paul and the most visited and one of the most popular candidates online. i just wonder why this doesn’t translate into primary votes. maybe I just don know enough about the process, but it seems he has a ton of followers yet it does not translate into public following.
January 10th, 2008 at 9:36 am
Good question Jaan.
I’ll offer my two cents. While no one can doubt the size, sincerity and devotion of Ron Paul’s support base, I believe the face of the matter is that he is simply disproportionately represented online. His message resonates with libertarians, many of whom are heavy internet users. So while judging his site traffic (which consistently outdraws all other candidates) one would presume he would also have a large off-line following; in reality, his online supporters make up a considerably larger percentage of his total support than any other candidate. Only when it’s time to vote, does the true size of rival candidates’ total support become clear.
January 20th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Even though Ron Paul is doing well on the internet, most of his lookers that surf the net are young people, who just look and don’t vote even though they have an opinion. Most of the people who don’t live on the net are 45 and older who always go out and vote. Ron Paul made a mistake by putting all of eggs on the internet.
May 19th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
hi, msj 520 wonderful blog 520 share