It seems like political candidates will do anything to get our attention. They run television and radio ads, pass out pamphlets, travel cross-country, send people door-to-door and much more. Campaigning is an expensive business.
According to Bloomberg.com, the 2008 presidential candidates spent a combined $1.7 billion on their campaigns. It was the first billion-dollar election in US history. Barack Obama alone out-spent all the candidates that ran for President in the 2004 election combined. However, new ways of connecting to people are on the rise, and they could make campaigning a much less expensive endeavor in the future.
Imagine this: instead of buying expensive television airtime, all a candidate has to do in order to reach millions of people is send a message (free of charge) instantaneously. It could be a detailed written description on a candidate’s position on issues, or a video acting as a campaign commercial (only without the high price associated with television commercials). This isn’t some futuristic humbug, this is the world we live in, the world of social media.
President Barack Obama was the first presidential candidate to really utilize sites like Facebook and Twitter. He began a trend that, like the social media sites themselves, is not likely to go away anytime soon. Using social media is fast, relatively cheap, and puts candidates in touch with a segment of the population that is not usually politically active: young people. The President currently has over 10,176,000 followers on Twitter, and over 23,226,000 people Like him on Facebook.
President Obama is not the only politician that recognizes the emerging role social media will play in future elections. Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska and John McCain’s former presidential running mate, is also quite notable for her use of Twitter to comment on political issues. Sarah Palin has nearly 664,000 followers on Twitter, and more than 3,239,000 people Like her on Facebook.
So how does the 2012 presidential field stack up? Here is the list of most Likes and followers for the 2012 presidential contenders:
Likes on Facebook
1. Barack Obama- 23,226,703
2. Mitt Romney- 1,116,559
3. Ron Paul- 516,761
4. Michele Bachmann- 462,102
5. Herman Cain- 178,531
6. Rick Perry- 162,361
7. Newt Gingrich- 148,191
8. Rick Santorum- 28, 031
9. Jon Huntsman- 18,145
Followers on Twitter
1. Barack Obama- 10,175,904
2. Newt Gingrich- 1,330,210
3. Michele Bachmann- 96,227
4. Mitt Romney- 95,031
5. Rick Perry- 89,195
6. Herman Cain- 72,838
7. Ron Paul- 65,429
8. Jon Huntsman- 34,973
9. Rick Santorum- 26,534
So, Wittenberg, it is your choice. Who will you LIKE?
(Paige Robar / robarp@wittenberg.edu)
