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Subscribe to RSSPresidential candidate Mitt Romney wasted no time today trying to capitalize on Rick Santorum's performance in Wednesday's debate. NBC's Peter Alexander reports.
Rick Santorum is coming under much closer — and more skeptical — scrutiny since he jumped to the top of Republican presidential polls this month, according to a computer-assisted analysis of social media data.
For the first time, politically engaged users of Twitter and Facebook are buzzing about Santorum more than about any other Republican candidate.
 M. Alex Johnson is a reporter for msnbc.com. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. |
Santorum, a former senator from Pennsylvania, swept Republican voting in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado on Feb. 7. Although all three contests were essentially beauty contests, with little official impact on the delegate count, Santorum's victories revived his campaign.
Before Feb. 7, Santorum was generally running third behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia in most major national polls. Following those contests, he soared to the top of the major national polls, and he has remained there since.
Santorum's rise has been mirrored on social media, according to msnbc.com's analysis of nearly 2.2 million posts on Twitter and Facebook this month. And as the spotlight has focused on him, it has drawn opponents of his sharp-edged positions out of the shadows.
msnbc.com research/M. Alex Johnson; Crimson Hexagon Inc.
Click the image for the full-size chart.
Comparison of total numbers of opinions expressed about the Republican candidates the week before the Feb. 7 contests and this week. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is represented by the purple line. Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania is represented by the orange line.
The analysis examined posts through Thursday about the four remaining major Republican candidates, filtering out straight news reports and neutral posts, such as tweets noting that a candidate would be making a campaign appearance. The resulting sample was 1.2 million tweets and Facebook posts that expressed clear support for or opposition to one of them.
In the week leading up to the Feb. 7 contests, those Facebook and Twitter users preferred to talk about Romney by a ratio of more than 6 to 1 over Santorum.
Beginning Feb. 8, however, Santorum has been the No. 1 topic of conversation. This week, more than two-fifths of every post expressing an opinion — 41 percent — were about Santorum, compared to 32 percent for Romney, 15 percent for Gingrich and 12 percent for Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.
Follow the campaign on NBCPolitics.com
(The analysis uses a tool called ForSight, a data platform developed by Crimson Hexagon Inc., which is used by many media and research organizations to gauge public opinion in new media, among them the Pew Research Center and ESPN. The results aren't a scientific reflection of national opinion. Instead, they're a broad look at what is being said by Americans who follow politics and are active on Facebook, Twitter or both.)
Nonpartisan research indicates that Republicans and Democrats use social networking sites in roughly equal proportions. The demographics have gradually been trending older and more conservative as the sites are adopted by a larger proportion of the American public, studies indicate.
Pew Research Center Internet and American Life Project: Social Media and the 2010 Election (.pdf)
The msnbc.com analysis suggests that while people are much more enthusiastic about talking about Santorum, they're not any more enthusiastic about the man himself. On Feb. 7, before results of the three contests were known, 42 percent of Santorum's comments were positive to 58 percent negative; Thursday, after a debate Wednesday night in Mesa, Ariz., where Santorum came under sustained attack from Romney and Paul, the breakdown was 38 percent to 62 percent.
Consistently, the largest driver of sentiment about Santorum is his strong stance against same-sex marriage, making up 18 percent of all opinions expressed about him and 28 percent of all negative sentiment this week — proportions that have remained remarkably consistent since June, when msnbc.com began collecting data.
In a Facebook post typical of the anti-Santorum commentary, Jay A. Small of Vancouver, Wash., wrote this week:
From Rick Santorum's website: "Marriage is, and has always been through human history, a union of a man and woman – and for a reason. These unions are special because they are the ones we all depend on to make new life and to connect those new lives to their mom and dad."
So, Mr. Santorum, your religion's typical intolerance must then also stand for banning marriage between couples who do not choose, or are not able to procreate.
First Read: Santorum hits on religious tones in speech
But other issues are now emerging around which significant opposition is crystallizing. The sentiment that Santorum is "too conservative," particularly in the prominence of his religious views — previously just one of several scattered notions — has broken into double digits this month, rising to 13 percent of all commentary and 20 percent of all negative opinion, such as this tweet by an Alaskan woman who describes herself as a Christian "pro-life supporter":
Twitter.com
The picture is different for Romney, who (at least according to msnbc.com's analysis) has yet to give voters a clear reason to vote for or against him. That suggests his supporters could be swayed by other candidates — or that he still could galvanize support with clearly articulated positions.
'Most electable'?
In fact, the No. 1 reason social media commentators give for supporting Romney — both this week and going all the way back to June — is their belief that he is the "most electable" Republican in the race, a sentiment that has driven 36 percent of all positive opinions this week:
Twitter.com
A quarter cite Romney's competence or leadership; no other issue even makes it into double digits.
Likewise, opposition to Romney is widely scattered. A quarter of those expressing negative opinions this week cited his wealth, with many suggesting that he is out of touch with the majority of Americans, as in this tweet from Michaele Swiderski, a Tennessee woman who describes herself as a Jesus-loving conservative:
Twitter.com
But 15 percent also expressed concern over his Mormon faith, another 15 percent thought he was too closely tied to corporate interests, and 14 percent pinned the RINO label on him — that is, "Republican In Name Only," or not truly conservative.
Even in Michigan — his native state, which holds an important primary Tuesday — the single most mentioned word in social media posts about Romney this week (after his own name) isn't any political issue or position.
It's "Santorum."
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News
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Pretty sure very little of this "buzz" is positive in regards to Santorum and his theocratic agenda.
Here in Michigan, I got a robo call last night that was aggressive to the point of intimidation from a republican group towards democrats voting in the republican primary. Appears the republicans are worried!
And the buzz is...PANIC! as the republicon party slowly comes to the realization that they will fail in their "single most important thing is for Obama to be a one-term president" agenda.
Yup, Puh-lease, they've tried everything but come up with a viable candidate.
It never ceases to amaze me how the establishment media puts their spin on politics. It's clear Ron Paul won the last debate, tore Santorum a new one, then gave all the attention to Romney, saying he chastised Santorum, Now they are spinning the story to cover Santorum.
See through it people!
a c-razy person over two crooks! imagine that.funny thing is these "conservatives " looking for a nominee , need look no further than Paul . that would be their nominee if they weren't almost all entirely stu-pid
1surrviivor, "c-razy person" is that all you got? That one is ssssoooo old, and with no merit. The man is the only candidate, Republican or Democrat, with any integrity what so ever.
common sense..that's funny, I mean your name .... I guess I should have said re-tarded jesus freak...sorry.and no Paul IS the only one with integrity.
If this site (whenrickispresident .com) is any indication....you're correct. I believe it's based on Bill Mahers #whenrickispresident twitter hashtag.
This is just a ruse from behind the GOP curtain designed to take attention away from Romney and the much more serious threats he holds against The American People, for the GOP. They've been doing this all along since the Campaign started. Do you really think Michelle Bachman was ever a "real" candidate for this year's election? She's been being groomed since Bush's last term in office, (roll the tapes), helping out for now probably on some kind of promise of a future "more seriously and real" shot at it. She served to nicely help Perry "slither" onto the scene, take attention away from Ron Paul and get the Romney and Gingich set up. Now comes Santorum's turn to be the one to capture and keep attention off Romeny/Gingrich and keep Americans busliy muddled up in tit for tat pettiness and "piece-meal" doled out scraps of false Idol Worship Tokenism Government. (Spring Training has begun...no more laughing...no more fun...if you show your teeth or tongue...YOU WILL BE THE FORFEIT!) They're pitching curve balls to a highly conditioned elite Catcher's Mitt behind the plate; the UMPS (The American People), think they are actually fantasy football referees on a baseball field and game and are distracted into "God Almighty Socialist Media spins concerning their material possessions and body parts only and are not paying attention as usual; while at the same time, what's really happening is that The GOP is hitting foul balls left and right, out of left field, and "stealing" bases! (Individual's first and second chakra energies; third base, their minds; Homeplate; The entire Apple pie: American Citizen's mindless (because it and its control doesn't belong to them anymore, either) by Robotic Republican Stepford-converted Souls. Baseball and Apple Pie; the Pledge of Corporate Allegience and the Miss America Republican Sandusky Shuffle. PLAY BALL!
coming soon on foxy news...it's survivor meets dancin with the stars. meets fleece the nation brought to you by karl-white-men-cant-dance-rove, and hosted by the donald, and his sexy assistant (insert any foxy fox "broadcaster" name here, megan, etc.), it's Conservative Apprentice. audience members will be able to cast there votes through prayer-texts (nominal text and phone charges apply, all monies go the the ANYCLOWNISBETTERTHANOBOZO super PAC). the winner of the nomination will be whoever does not get kicked off the beltway. ties will be decided by whomever has the most faceplant friends and twits, oops, sorry, i meant tweets. Rick OOPS Perry, Michelle BATCRAZY Bachmann, and Herm-the-worm(i can't believe you're a republican)Cain, YOU'RE FIRED!
madMarinedad, #1.10- EXCELLENT!!!! LMAO! Now, by any chance, do you have the (post-sweeps) entertainment line-up for Congress, the 87% odds on favorite that because members have a pulse and are breathing America's gonna "pay baby pay"!!!
This article is without a doubt, the biggest crock of horsesh!t I've ever read. I never hear of Santorum is positive circles, only negative ones, when he's been lambasted in the media for his crazy social views. MSNBC knows god damn well that Ron Paul leads this category and list.
Why are you so biased against Ron Paul? What are you afraid of? I'm not even a big Ron Paul fan, but this is hard to ignore. He has 6 times the number of fans as Santorum on Facebook.
More and more evidence that the media tries to pick out our candidates for us.
That part...I totally agree with you. The rest of your rant....I don't.
If you're really interested in RP, you'll know that he never expects to win the nomination (and he's said that). But he wants his direction pushing the GOP platform. He's like a mini Palin: loud bark, but no bite. I admire RP supporters, but I think they're fooling themselves if they think he has any chance of winning anything. He's prepping the way for Rand, who is more militant and aggressive (and dangerous).
I see what he's saying, though. The media has kept RP on the down low as much as possible. Certainly it isn't because there's nothing sensationalist there...why do they keep him down.
Ron Paul really doesn't have a chance but at least he's putting discussions out there that the American people need to think about. At least he's offering options that no one else is offering. Unfortunately, he and Rand are bat@!$%# crazy. Interesting ideas, though.
That's not my claim. I never said he had a shot at winning, or a strong shot to win, but it's quite clear from YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook (look at both their pages and you tell me who has the most support) that the author's argument is baloney. Ron Paul, hands down, leads his GOP rivals on internet buzz. It's not even close.
I'm a moderate liberal myself, and only agree on his foreign policy more than anything else, but you can't tell me that FOX, MSNBC, and CNN aren't biased against this guy. MSNBC and CNN want Santorum to win, because they know he doesn't stand a chance against Obama, and FOX can't stand the fact that he contradicts their neo-conservative agenda.
It's painfully obvious, but you won't hear one iota from it here. Our media has become the wings for political parties and their agendas. A sad time to be American.
You apparently didn't actually READ this article. It doesn't say anything about who has more fans or followers or any of the like. It only reports on how OFTEN someone is being talked ABOUT. In this case people who are neither fans of Santorum or Paul or Romney or whomever may (or may not) be doing the majority of the talking about the candidates. It just so happens according to this data that more people are talking about Santorum than anyone else. The article also said that MOST of that talk seems to be negative--just as you suggest. It does NOT say that these people are Santorum fans on Facebook, or followers on Twitter, etc--only that they post things that talk about Santorum.
Maybe you should actually bother to read articles before you comment on them.
I was listening to a news report that a whole county in Maine was not reported (in votes) because it would have given Ron Paul a win in Maine. It's crazy bias, but the reality is that as many good ideas as he has, he is jut the right amount of crazy to be unelectable.
Ranman87 - Funny, I thought the TeaPublican faithful ignored MSNBC.
Why do you seem surprised. Do you think the Republican establishment only steals elections from Democrats? They will make sure "their guy wins". And I do mean their guy. Oh they'll throw in a pretty face like FOX News does, or maybe a person of color but when it comes down to it, they will always be rich, white and probably old. They're constituency is Corporations, supported by low information, socially conservative poor dreaming of one day being rich and theocratic evangelicals. Congratulations, your comment would indicate that you're finally getting it.
The only crazier person would be his son Rand Paul.
Ranman,
What corporate owned media is so afraid of if Paul is elected, is multi -billions dollar political and pharmacutical advertising will dry up. A Ron Paul presidency would not be a good thing for multi-national corporations or special interest groups who would nolonger enjoy one-stop shopping in Washington DC
The ex=Senator from Pa., states his belief (not factual at all ) that throughout history it has been man and woman in the conjugal bed; married. My question is a simple one - How can a man his young age positively know that this form of union has been in place through all of man's history? The fundamentalists who place absolute faith in their religious history are mere speculators. Faith is revealed when man is humble. grateful and compassionate towards all living things and his universe. The extreme zealots of an fundamental religion are purely one dimensional and lack the ability to use intuition over blind adherence to what someone has told them. Jesus did not write anything. Mohamed failed to write anything. Buddha did not write anything. We have only the tortured memoirs of their followers, most of whom were not living during the time of their Leader's life! Speculative at best. Ricky boy is way out of line and has no right to interfere with the free choice of any man, woman or child. His beliefs are his and a President is bound to execute the law of the land as legislated by our Congress. The POTUS has not attempted to legislate issues of morality or religion, but has placed in the legislative chambers, ideas, suggestions, plans and agendas for moving the country ahead. Unfortunately for Republicans, they do not have a consensus and wallow about in senseless and unethical verbal ramblings, forgetting to place before the electorate a workable scheme or plan to move the country ahead - simply stopping Federal spending is certainly not the answer, and their long term ideas are lacking in credibility and common sense. Go away Ricky boy and enjoy your beliefs, but stay out of my life and my decisions, which are my by Constitutional right!
Speaking of federal spending, no one seemed to complain when the federal government started giving money to religious charities. (Is that action a separation of church and state?)
William Smith
What a thoughtful post.
So William by your statement it is ok to take a 12 year old as a wife or concubine?? This was a practice for centuries but we have moved away from that. The description of marriage is that between a man and a woman not man and child, man and man, or woman and woman yet you lambaste Santorum for stating his belief as that of the teachings of is faith.
We have had numerous leaders with the same belief but they have not exerted it in the office because they now represent the nation and not just themselves. Our Current president believes along the same lines personally as Santorum does so does this make him as bad in your eyes?? Stop trying to create an issue where there is none. All the candidates have their faiths and beliefs yet all will not foist it upon us if it is not the will of the land. That's my thoughts have fun tearing into it.
jperry64
As long as they are 2 consenting ADULTS, it is no one else's business what they do in the privacy of their on bedroom!! Republicants need to get out of everyone else's bedroom, doctor's office, gun cabinet, and church or lack there of. This country was founded on Freedom of Religion and Freedom FROM religion. They speak of smaller government but want to CONTROL every aspect of our lives.
I think what he's saying, Perry, is that while they all hold their own religious beliefs that Santorum is the one who would actually put his own personal beliefs before the will of the people...or at least he would try. The abortion thing is a long running debate which his side has always been passionate about...there's no surprise there. But do you really think he wouldn't try to put in legislation banning homosexuality or contraception? I have no doubt that he would try. There's also no doubt that he would waste his time in office working on social issues while lambasting Democrats for bigger government.
Santorum is bad. He may not be evil, he may not be a bad guy...but he's bad for this country. He WILL NOT represent all of us...only his flock.
Bring either on... Either will lost to Obama. Thank God!
That's rather a bogus argument. What happens between two adults in their bedroom is not at issue. It is a matter of legal status, such as whether they will be subject to the marriage penalty at tax time if the Obama Tax Cut Extensions are allowed to expire or whether they can make medical decisions for their partner. To suggest that it has anything to do with the bedroom is nothing but demagoguery.
RMJ good response but I was making a point not being serious. There is no argument for me over a civil union or some other name but holy matrimony ie marriage is out because it goes to religion not rights. I feel if a gay/lesbian couple are untied by whatever named certificate we end up with should have full legal rights as a married couple just a different document type declaring their love for one another. The zealots are the ones ginning up the problems not the American people. I hope this sparks thought and maybe agreement over this supposed issue.
Didn't the Christian Hierachy get rid of any Bible Books that said anything about Jesus being married? And doesn't the Bible talk about the many wives of the heroes of that book? I think that many Christians only site the parts of the Bible that they like and forget the rest, just like the Republican House only read the sections of the Constitution that they like.
I've got an idea that may be better than focusing on 'buzz' or parsing shades of nuance about extremely regressive positions a la the GOP's current take (and I say that in light of the knowledge that we need some competition for the fall election): how about dropping much of the entrenched resistance to a third (or more) party candidate? While I fully realize that much of our history and culture is based upon presenting voters with a false dichotomy (i.e., the choices are either the position favored by the elite or some ridiculous possibility too terrifying to entertain, while ignoring the myriad other possibilities available), it should be clear to all by now that allowing the nation to continue on its current trajectory for even four more years is simply a disaster in the making. The Republicrats (that's one party masquerading as two for the more illiterate readers) have failed us utterly, so why not try try an other approach? Oh, and before I'm drowned out in a chorus of "How's that hope and change working out for you?"....does anyone reading this sincerely hold that we'd now be better off under McCain and Palin? So maybe even then, a more varied assortment would have been preferable, huh?
Those who can neither spell nor construct a grammatically sound sentence need not respond.
A strange rant . I think Obama is doing a good job of leading a misguided country. What do you suggest as an alternative? huh?
David you do have a point but to do that we would need to get people to actually research the candidates and not rely upon the media and their agenda to make a decision. Both supposed parties are pretty worthless and to beholden to big money to do what we need done to get us on the correct path(I did not use right path due to the venue as it would have been taken as i am a right winger.).
RP while quite interesting and right on all but overseas policies(Which scares the crap out of too many people to get him elected.)cannot garner enough votes to win. What we need is someone with the moxie to brow beat those in congress to do the correct thing but alas those people have been silenced by the 2 headed monster(Dem/Rep Establishment people.) with lies and baseless insinuations. As for the McPalin question couldn't be any worse so can we stop with the Sara is stupid stuff and get back to what needs to be done now?
My challenge to this page is stop the bickering and lies and give some solid ideas to get us out of this 2 party mess.
Well when Ron Paul is right, then he's the one that HAS to win or we'll keep screwing up this country. Maybe people are just not smart enough to vote for him and they'll go for phonies like Romney and Obama, but if that's the case then it's our own fault. We can't blame politicians when people say ignorant crap like the twitter post in this article saying "vote for Romney because he can win". That's just as much of a justification to vote for Hitler.
@jperry64: How in the world does RP's foreign policy scare you? Bringing our troops HOME isn't a good thing? Getting out of the unconstitutional wars we're in, isn't a good thing? Our own troops, who are donating the most money to RP's campaign, don't want to fight these wars anymore! Santorum/Gringrich/Romney are all going to do the same thing Obama's doing now: Getting our men & women killed for a reason these men & women still don't know what for. Iran has 40+ U.S. military bases surrounding it. Why wouldn't they want to defend themselves? Do I want them to have a nuke? Of course not. Look at how many nukes Israel (who have said to Congress they don't want our help!) has. Newt didn't want Reagan to go to Russia and talk...Look what happened when he did. Bring our men & women home to defend THIS country. Not by being in others.
These questions are for MSNBC We know you are watching but you dont have the guts to do the right thing and answer them.
"Why are you so biased against Ron Paul? What are you afraid of? I'm not even a big Ron Paul fan, but this is hard to ignore. He has 6 times the number of fans as Santorum on Facebook."
The software used to collect this data is simple. I use it in my job for similar reasons to find out things said about our company. It simply collects data based on key words (in this case the candidates names) and tracks sentiment by scanning for negative, neutral and positive words in the same sentence.
The results are clearly shown in the two graphs from these scans. Both graphs show tracked posts about each candidate and Paul is in the rear with the fewest posts about him.
You may like to think that he is a front runner and you may like to think that he is the most talked about on social media sites but the facts are clear...he isn't all that.
I use the software too, and I would hardly ever trust those stats for any serious info gathering. Firstly, check the dates on the graphs. They, very interestingly, only chose the first 6 days of this month and then 4 days from this week. I do not see any good reason for such a peculiar choice of days for the stats. The conspiracy theorist in me says that they found days in this month with least Ron Paul web-chatter and used that for the graphs; while the rationalist in me says that MSNBC sucks at using their stats the right way to make meaningful predictions. Stats are just stats. They have no meaning but the one the user gives them (It's all in the interpretation).
Our Father who art in heaven cries softly when he sees his children (republicans, democrats) bicker.
Republicans are the children of Beelzabub and Democrats are the children of Pan. If you beleive in God you have to beleive he wants fo vomit over all the lies, hate & ignorance.
God did "vomit" ........through the cross and the one who was nailed to it.
What a joke, MSNBC.
We aren't stupid. We look up google trends and others.
Santorum isn't at the top of any list because everyone thinks he's a fruitcake.
Ron Paul has consistently gotten the most twitter and FB mentions far and above the rest.
The article does not claim everything or even the majority of things being said about Santorum is positive
Did you expect the Paul supporters to actually 'read' the whole article?
You are blind (and ignorant) if you can't see the spin.
Maitre....well no , they don't have to. 1 crazy guy and two crooks , leaves only one option.It has been this way for months! One option, in the republican clown/crook car. Paul as the frontrunner! why read crap. I only read your post because it was short.... RON PAUL 2012
Highstreet breathe.... Ok no your not stupid but you do need to quit relying on the lying media and Google is one now too for your opinions. By this I mean they have sold out to big money also and no longer do things by pure data. We need to do our own research and stop the madness of listening to the bias of our media and yes it is fox as well so take that koolaiders. The bias and misinformation being parsed out by these media centers is all designed to get us to do what they want. They use verbiage to make the herd(Those who take their word as gospel) vote the way they want them to. We need to do our own research and make our own decisions not just blindly take the word of a talking-head promoting his or her agenda. Thank you for reading and I hope this helps us get closer to stopping the class warfare and fear-mongering posting that is a constant nowadays.
How about we hear what each candidate is preparing to do for the American people if elected? That would be a whole lot more interesting than which one has more followers on social networks. I still depend on TV news and articles I can actually read on the Internet, not Twitter or Face book, both of which are a waste of time and energy in my book and seem to be adding more problems for people than solving any.
The trouble is that the candidates aren't presenting a "platform," they are just bad-mouthing all the others. Except Paul, the candidate for 1812. So, I think I'll stick with the devil I know, instead of the devil.
Republicans exhaust me - so tired of their rhetoric.
Nice try MSNBC. Ricky isn't even on my radar as far as who i'm voting for. Of the 4 candidates left, the only one who is making sense to me is RON PAUL. If you want things to be the same, vote for newty, mittens or ricky. If you want to take our country back and restore power to the people, the choice is clear. RON PAUL 2012
Unfortunately the choice is not so clear. For most of us we vote on 'electability', which I guess means they vote for who they think the other guy/gal is voting for. That means not voting for Ron Paul because he's 'crazy'. We say he's crazy because we can't come up with a better insult and don't want to think about how crazy it might be that what he is saying is true.
Ron Paul 2012!
The problem you have is just because 'Ricky' isn't on 'your' radar doesn't mean is isn't on other peoples. Your attitude seems common among Paul supporters I meet...that their opinion is the only one that matters -everyone else is wrong.
well maitre if you consider yourself a conservative, and think there is another option than Paul you are snowed. Do your votes for Bush still make you happy to this day? Since we all know now that bush was a fraud of a conservative. Clinton was actually more conservative. voTe RON PAUL
MSDNC can't stand the fact we conservatives will pick the candidate of our choice...
You will pick no one. The Establishment GOP will pick the candidate they feel is the most electable.
Maitre, what is with this BS term "Electable" how ridiculous this term is! What is electable? Someone who uses just enough "just for men" hair coloring? Someone who shoves their religion down your throat and wears sweater vests, someone who is an overweight, cheating smart-ass? Someone who is already in the white house - has already told everyone what they want to hear, but all lies? Or, an older, wise gentleman with a record of consistency and integrity, and promotes our Liberty like no other!?
There is only one that is truly Electable!
what a crock. Everyone knows Ron Paul owns the internet hits. Anything that shows him on the bottom of the list completely discredits the validity of the poll.
Nice try but I am not buying it.
Of course you don't buy it...because facts clearly don't matter to you. Your opinion is the only one that counts - everyone else is wrong - the whole world is a conspiracy out to get you because you have such a high sense of self importance.
Sorry but get over yourselves Paul sheeple...your candidate is clearly in 4th place and you just don't want to face the fact that you have been taken for a ride.
If you listen to everything Ron Paul says, even he knows he has no chance to win!
Why cause people like you keep saying he doesnt have a chance thats what the media has been trying to get everybody to go along with if it didnt matter why would they always discredit him and not the other canidates even when it looked like they didnt have a chance either i will tell you why cause they will do what ever they can to stop him if he got half the love they gave everybody else and not all these negative comments he would be the leader but he does got a chance more and more people are seeing the truth
Ron Paul for president
actually polls show him beating obama or in the margins to beat obama! so no wonder your out of the loop.
What polls kenny? The poles of Paul supporters? Post the facts and sources.
Ron Paul has the 2nd most delegates right now. Something the MSM doesn't tell you.
your quarteback is a big dummy and a child molester. The whole outfit sucks for keeping his old wore out ass on........she is someones child
What your graph says the number of relevant opinions you are a idiot you dont decide what a relevant opinion is Im saying it, no more of your biased crap, Ron Paul for president
Coherent sentence please.
The software simply measures social media posts by candidates names along with sentiment determined by negative, neutral or positive words in the same sentence as the name. It's pretty simple actually.
If you don't like the measured facts you have the right to your opinion but what remains is that your opinion is just and opinion and the facts are still the facts. Paul is in last place.
Obviously the Ron Paul supporters are just trying to boost his stats via this newsvine. Too funny.
No Sarah... it could be that there are many more Ron Paul supporters than you thought.... His supporters actually want REAL change and they tend to think independently...
msnbc lies like fox and cnn, Ron Paul 2012 vs Status Quo(obama/romney) santorum is a joke! santorum would make a great vp to obama. hell obama should pick bush for vp and really screw america. Ron Paul will be the gop nominee or the gop will elect obama! ps santorum is just a sideshow gop/media establishment shill!
If you listen carefully to Ron Paul, he is an isolationist. And in world like today, that is not a viable choice. Isolationist would not have allowed the Russian oil tanker to bring fuel to Alaska a few weeks ago. Just an example why the GOP will never let Raul even get close to being a candidate.
Pat, Your post is wrong and stupid you have no idea what Ron Paul stands for. Before making a asinine statement learn his platform maybe you will have a different opinion but I doubt it.
You know the sheeple are in denial when they start claiming that even the news source on their side is lying. OK...so you don't want to listen to the news from the left or the news from the right but only the (I hesitate to call is news) from your own candidate as he presents it to you?
You Paul supporters 'do' understand how a totalitarian dictatorship runs the news right?
Face it...you Paul sheeple have been taken for a ride and you've been so blinded by hatred you didn't even see it.
Paul's supporters are sheeple? No, you guys who get all your news and views form the mainstream media are the sheeple.
And for the guy with the "isolationist crack", Ron Paul will go to war with a declaration of war. If you understand the Constitution, you'll undertand ALL of Ron Paul's postitions.
Ron Paul is a racist.
Sarah, and you are a idiot
Oh yeah, Ron Paul is crazy:
Yeah, real crazy.... RON PAUL 2012
Ron Paul is the only straight shooter of the bunch. Not the worry he has yet to open that can of whompass.
Taking a realistic viewpoint on the Republican Party's chances to defeating Barrack Obama.
The problem with Rick Santorium is the perception of his singular focus on Social Issues and his hardline stance on many items such as birth control. In the general election, Rick Santorium will likely lose the majority of Women's votes and will will not pick up any of the contested states. The math is against him even with an unpopular Barrack Obama.
The problem with Newt Gingrich is his extensive baggage and his inconsistant record. He comes across as angry, not as cheerful that he described himself as. The Obama Attack Machine will have a heyday with the furtile fields of sound bites that Newt Gingrich has provided them.
The problem with Ron Paul is the perception by many Republicans that he can't win, that he is a bit goofy. I doubt that he has enough support to win the primary, but in a general election he would fair better than either Rick Santorium or Newt Gingrich.
The problem that Mitt Romney has is totally in the primary election. For a various reasons there is a number of people who a very opposed to his as the nominee. For some evangelicals it is simply because he is a Mormon, for others it is because he is rich, and for others it is because he is from a liberal state and needed to temper his positions in order to get elected in the first place. Mitt Romney has the best chance against Barrack Obama in the general election, but it will not be a cakewalk to unseat a sitting President even if Barrack Obama is unpopular.
The question is do we vote for who we feel is the most perfect conservative only to lose and have nothing or do we take a pragmatic view and have a much better chance of winning.
This being said, I don't believe that either Rick Santorium or Newt Gingrich qualify as Fiscal Conservatives and in my opinion the country needs a Fiscal Conservative much more than we need a Social Conservative.
We really need Palin to run, it would be a dream come true.
lifish, what for dog catcher
For comedic qualities. Every circus needs an ex beauty queen.
I, too, would like to see Palin run...into the sea at the head of the pack of all the Tea Party lemmings.
A dream come true!
@ Uomo "I doubt that he has enough support to win the primary, but in a general election he would fair better than either Rick Santorium or Newt Gingrich."
And that is exactly why the media won't even mention him... The others are meant as spoilers to keep Obama in office. Ron Paul actually has a chance against Obama, and (I guess) we just can't have that (sarcasm). I've come to doubt if our vote even counts anymore... seems all rigged these days.
And gee... Ron Paul is a true fiscal conservative...
The repugs might wanna demonstrate their "conservative" policies and sit this one out...saving their money. And a name change might not hurt... from the "GOP" to the GOL. Greedy old Losers
One question: Is there a condom that is big enough to roll over Rick? We need some protection from what he really is.
Lilfish - Not Palin, bring back Bachman
How about a Palin/Bachmann ticket! Of course, they would kill each other over who gets to drive the car and then we'd all be stuck with the tan man and then we'd all be forced to get spray on tans!
The good thing about the Palin-Bachman ticket...is that we'd get a new president in two years, after Princess quits.
RTGSC
One question: Is there a condom that is big enough to roll over Rick? We need some protection from what he really is.
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MTREX - why do you people who are passionate about GOP resort to name calling. Are you taking a cue from your candiates? look in the mirror sometime and ask yourself who is the fool? You may respond with more name calling but I am signing off this post so you response will go unnoticed.
Pat, I know you are still there and I guess you don't think the dems don't use name calling. That's life get over it and quit crying.
No one's crying Mtex. I think what Pat is saying is that whenever presented with facts or evidence that proves the GOP's position illogical or a rabid Tea Party supporters claims to be false / lies...the only retort you seem to have is 4th grade name calling. No logical discussion, no adult conversation, just school yard name calling.
The Maitre, It sound like you are crying get your facts straight I for one am not a tea party supporter. Again when the dems quit name calling maybe things will change, and if the shoe fits maybe you will quit crying with Pat.
im on neither side and it looks like mtex is name calling more than anyone else and if anyone else is guilty its because they are calling him a name caller plus if ronpaul isnt the gop nominee obama is going to win because women wont vote for santorum or gengrich and nobody wants to vote for romeny cause he cant keep his story straight santorum messed up pretty bad saying he wants to outlaw abortions and birth control and that seperating church and state was a big mistake was a big mistake on his part because every legitimate american knows that our country was founded on religious freedom and he is against religious freedom unless its his religion
When I was reading this article big adds kept coming up it seemed like a bombardment of them, my thought was super packs will try to buy this election, as we get closer, it will get worse get ready to see and read , and listen to hundreds of adds until your sick of them, I have made my mind up to go with Obama for a second term !
Hey, It's MEEEEE
Sad shame, isn't it. Guess the other party and main repubs supporters have many fooled and it shows what fools their supporters are. Many of us RP supporters do know and why, because many like you have no desire for real change, you want to keep the status quo. As for me, I'm not sure whether many who don't support RP are afraid of change or just plain ignorant. Good luck with your life when they suck the life out of you heh heh. As for myself and many others, the only other option if RP doesn't win is OWS. Then things will really stink in this country for the big co-ops and elite LOL.
Ron has more delegates than Frothy or Newt.
canoworms shame on you for making RP supporters looks bad. By making the statement that those who do not support the man they are either establishmenters or just plain ignorant you bring shame to your cause. Make an argument for the man which there are many and stop bad mouthing those who are not in his corner(yet). If you make make concise and informative arguments for him you might sway some support his way. I know allot of RP supporters are hardliners but please don't assume that those who are not supporting him now are just ignorant that makes the good Senator look like he only has zealots on his side which is not the case.
@ canoworms: got your note, there. I can respect parts of it. But I have voted for Dems, Rep's and Indy's in the past. I've never done a straight party vote, never.
I would think if your saying dems or other repubs don't take him serious..it's likely because he is their competition. My question (and as asked by many PR supporters) is,why doesn't the media take him seriously? He's well known. He seems controversial, so it would sell space or tv time. He has a very strong (and mostly young) base, that are active and (mostly) positive. I don't know...it would make sense to me if they'd treat all the candidates the same, but I guess that's not the real world for some reason.
Personally I don't trust him. I don't see how someone KNOWS they wont be elected, thereby able to say anything and not have to back it up. I don't believe in some of his policies, and I think he's really shallow on foreign and military issues. Obama has had to swim upstream, against the repub party for three years; and I'd be very concerned that RP might have many in two parties not working with him, if he were President.
But he's been asked if he'd run as a third party candidate, and he very hesitantly said 'NO', after the third time being asked. So, even if he doesn't make the GOP nomination...his supporters might still see him on the ticket. I would think he'd do pretty well, considering how many repub's don't like Mitt.
ps: sorry for what I said about Rand. I've only heard him a few times, and his tone and philosophy scare me. So that one is more emotion of me, rather than knowing him.
Btw, I do know I'm being watched as are all of you LOL. Thanks to those who wish to keep the drones flying overhead and the status quo heh heh.
The only Republican that can actually make any kind of change would be Ron Paul. Unfortunately, they will not allow him to win. None of the other children (because that is how they are acting) will pose any threat to Obama. Santorum speaks half truths and down right lies. He also appears that if he was not in front of a camera he can barely contain himself from decking who ever is criticizing him.His faith is too prominent to be able to separate his political responsibilities from his faith. Romney is just more of the same old greed and politics. He is like the politicians of old, promising the voter anything to get the vote. Gingrich has no morals and again, more of the same old politics. The only possible one to go up against Obama would be the one that holds such opposing views that even the simplest voter could see the difference. It looks like Obama has no one that can stand against him otherwise.
Nanette sorry to disappoint but even if shoe and sock is on an opposing ticket they will beat Big O. There are too many people hurting and or disappointed in him to be otherwise. He himself made this his only term he stated that if he did not get things turned around in his first term it would be his only term.
Well here we are and well..... Unemployment way to high, housing still crippled, business stagnant, and the only thing going is the Stock market hmm I wonder why?? Oh yeah the Dems are in bed with wall-street too. Don't give up on us just yet Nanette we are a work in progress.
jperry, thanks for the encouraging words. This is the first election I have ever paid attention to. Its very scary and disheartening.