Posted on 05/01/2019 6:00:18 PM PDT by SamAdams76
This is a monthly posting of Twitter follower growth for the past month for 2020 presidential candidates.
This is very unscientific but I feel that Twitter growth in followers can be a strong indicator of candidate "popularity" and we certainly saw that in 2016, when it was Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and the eventual winner Donald Trump who month after month saw the highest growth in followers. My 2016 tracking showed "front-runners" like Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio with comparatively slower Twitter follower growth months before they eventually dropped out of the race. So Twitter follower growth can certainly be a leading indicator of whether a candidacy is going flat or surging.
I am currently tracking 44 candidates - both announced as well as any notable individuals showing interest - down from 45 last month. Only the Top 20 in follower growth (over the past month) make the cut for this posting, but there are still 24 other candidates "bubbling under."
I also added a column that shows percentage growth of followers. I don't personally like this metric because it skews in favor of candidates who have comparatively few followers (see Mike Gravel as an example here - who has ever heard of him?) and disfavors candidates who have already built millions of followers, who are just not going to be able to double their supporters in one month but show massive growth nonetheless. But many have requested it so I have it in here.
This was another very active month with a lot of candidates (mostly on the Democrat side) jockeying for position.
Will there be a "Donald Trump" emerging on the Democrat (or Independent side)? Something is definitely going on with Pete Buttgieg, who once again picked up hundreds of thousands of followers over the past 30 days. That's close to Trump momentum right there which I find inexplicable because I just don't see the appeal with that guy.
Following "Mayor Pete" is "Sleepy Joe" as Trump calls him but I prefer "Groping Joe". He announced officially this past month and has picked up over 150,000 followers. That said, he struggles to pack more than 500 people into his rallies.
Surprisingly, it really drops off from there. Bernie Sanders only picked up 55,000 followers (nearly a tenth of what Trump gained) and Kamala Harris (supposedly Hillary's anointed one) barely gained 20,000.
Just missing the Top 20 is Howard Schultz (Independent) who picked up only 2,750 followers. I used to think he would pose a serious third party challenge but for now, his candidacy appears dormant.
Of the 44 candidates I'm tracking, only three of them actually LOST followers. They are as follows:
Beto O'Rourke
Bob Corker
John Kasich
Three total putzes!
Below is the full listing of those 24 candidates I am tracking who did not make my Top 20. Scroll further down to see a graphic of my Top 20 for this month.
Howard Schultz - IND
Seth Moulton - DEM
Sam Seder - LIB
Bill de Blasio - DEM
John "X-Rated" Hickenlooper - DEM
Mark Cuban - IND
John Delaney - DEM
Wayne Messam - DEM
Jesse Ventura - GRN
Larry Hogan - REP
Michael Bennet - DEM
Steve Bullock - DEM
Howie Hawkins - GRN
Adam Kokesh - LIB
Dario Hunter - GRN
Arvin Vohra - LIB
Vermin Supreme - LIB
Joe Schriner - ASP
Brian T Carroll - ASP
Ronnie Kroell - IND
Eric Swalwell - DEM
C L Gammon - PRO
Beto O'Rourke - DEM
Bob Corker - REP
John Kasich - REP
I won’t speak for others but this is very interesting. Amazing Trump is bringing in almost 500k of new followers just by being Trump. Almost makes one want to join twitter.
Or is it instatwit. Or Twitface. Does Lindsey Graham have anything to do with FaceGram or that only for grandmothers?
Nope.
Any of the Dems have gravitas? /s
Pinging Ping List
Dem Gravitas, LOL. That was funny.
The other thing to watch is hashtag usage. For instance;
#Biden2020 is 100/hr
#Bernie2020 110/hr
#Harris2020 140/hr
#Trump2020 330/hr
#Buttigieg2020 no rate
LOL, that’s the kind of year it is on the Dark Side.
#MAGA is 1270/hr
I don’t know what the numbers mean. (May?)
Never mind. I read the article.
What a cast of losers ! Beto’s dragging ass already !?! I guess the 70+ million he spent losing to Sen. Cruz has soured the powers that be.
“#Buttigieg2020 no rate”
no wonder: too hard to spell correctly ...
Gravitas is not the issue. What is lacking among all progressive democrats is charisma.
And then there is stamina........ yesterday Rush whispered to us that Sleepy Joe lacks the stamina required for the campaign.
The Tweet list is an extremely interesting asset to Free Republic
“Vermin Supreme?”
Yes, he’s an actual person and an actual candidate - FEC filed and all.
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