Media, Politics

Newt Ahead In Twitter Primary

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

Newt Gingrich has what appears to be an insurmountable lead over his Republican rivals in the number of followers on Twitter. Gingrich has an amazing 1,325,903 followers whereas Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann haven’t even cracked 100,000. Gingrich complained that the elite media are ignoring his Twitter army.

There’s just one problem, most of his prodigious following is fake.

A former staffer ratted out Gingrich by revealing that his campaign hired a firm to boost his follower numbers:

About 80 percent of those accounts are inactive or are dummy accounts created by various “follow agencies,” another 10 percent are real people who are part of a network of folks who follow others back and are paying for followers themselves (Newt’s profile just happens to be a part of these networks because he uses them, although he doesn’t follow back), and the remaining 10 percent may, in fact, be real, sentient people who happen to like Newt Gingrich.

POLITICO even ran a puff-piece on Gingrich’s massive Twitter following. Emily Schultheis, the author of the piece, will be spending a lot of time getting the egg off her face. POLITICO fancies itself a top-tier news organization.

If Gingrich did juice his numbers it would be easily confirmed. Take a statistical sample of his followers and check for odd names, no posts, no followers, no personal information, and a small follow list. It certainly explains why Gingrich has twice the number of followers as Sarah Palin.

Interestingly, there are firms that actually make money getting Twitter followers for the pathetic.

H/T: Gwaker.

42 thoughts on “Newt Ahead In Twitter Primary”

  1. HenMan – not only no tail he probably has no coat. Given the Captain Cave-man routine he allowed the Republicans to dictate terms of the stimulus bill, which was too small and full of useless tax cuts that really didn’t produce any jobs – the actual money spending part did but that was a pittance compared to the give away to those not in need. Coupled with the damage the debt deal will do Obama is toast.

    With a new Republican President the destruction of America should be complete. David Stockman detailed the plan in the book he wrote after leaving the Reagan Administration as budget Director. The goal of that administration was to destroy the Federal government so that it could do nothing by running massive deficits and making it appear incompetent. Funny that it is only truly incompetent when Republicans get their way – the the response to Andrew vs. Katrina as an example.

  2. SwMom-

    Obama has no coattails. He traded them to the Republicans for some magic beans. Orange Man and the Turtle are still laughing about how they snookered him again.

  3. Blouise, I think Perry has a good chance of becoming the nominee. Not as sure as you are about an Obama victory. Romney has Rubio of Florida on his short list they say.

  4. SwM,

    Like I said months ago, it’ll be Obama and Romney and they’ll use the crazies like Perry, Bachmann, etc. to do the teabaggers fund raising and righteous indignation rallies. The only real issue left is who will be Romney’s running mate. I don’t think they’ll go another crazy like Palin again because they are going to want to look serious about it all.

    For democrats it’s going to be about the states and getting the House back while keeping the Senate … Obama will win but will he get a House and Senate to work with in his last four years?

  5. Romney hires some of the most notoriously right wing minds out there.

  7. I haven’t decided yet which Sarah Palin video I like better. The swimsuit video is nice. But Sarah blathering into the camera while live turkeys are being stuffed into bloody grinders behind her is soooo good!

  11. Oops! I mistook the writer for the world affairs expert. For shame! I guess I’ll have to get by on my looks, too. (It won’t be easy.)

  13. Elaine-

    Carrie Prejean can write?? Or is it a book of pictures and such like the U.S.Americans and everywhere such as the Eye-rack read if they don’t have maps and such like?

  14. HenMan,

    I bet Regnery Publishers probably have a special warehouse where they keep all those “bestselling” books that have supposedly been sold by their famous and fabulous authors–including Ann Coulter, Jerome Corsi, Laura Ingraham, G. Gordon Liddy, Michelle Malkin, Oliver North, Patrick J. Buchanan, and Carrie “Opposite Marriage” Prejean.

  15. The only people who have heard of Newt are 65+ years old and far more likely to have a dial telephone than a tweetable device.

    Are the 1,325,903 “followers” of Newt kept in the same warehouses where Ann Coulter’s “best-sellers” are stored? And Glenn Beck’s? And the “War on Christmas” books?

  17. Don’t tweet, don’t twitter, don’t do facebook … too damn much work

  18. “Well, la-dee-frickin-da!”

    “Whoop-deefrickin-doo!”

    Mitt needs a session from Matt Foley:

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbLRqJ3T4DY&w=640&h=390]

  19. Swarthmore mom,

    Thanks for posting the Perry video.

    Perry balanced his state budget? Then how come he needed federal stimulus money?

    Texas’s love/hate relationship with Washington’s money
    By Tami Luhby, senior writer
    January 24, 2011
    CNNMoney
    http://money.cnn.com/2011/01/23/news/economy/texas_perry_budget_stimulus/index.htm

    Excerpt:
    NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Texas Gov. Rick Perry likes to tell Washington to stop meddling in state affairs. He vocally opposed the Obama administration’s 2009 stimulus program to spur the economy and assist cash-strapped states.

    Perry also likes to trumpet that his state balanced its budget in 2009, while keeping billions in its rainy day fund.

    But he couldn’t have done that without a lot of help from … guess where? Washington.

    Turns out Texas was the state that depended the most on those very stimulus funds to plug nearly 97% of its shortfall for fiscal 2010, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

    Even budget deficits are bigger in Texas
    Texas, which crafts a budget every two years, was facing a $6.6 billion shortfall for its 2010-2011 fiscal years. It plugged nearly all of that deficit with $6.4 billion in Recovery Act money, allowing it to leave its $9.1 billion rainy day fund untouched.

    “Stimulus was very helpful in getting them through the last few years,” said Brian Sigritz, director of state fiscal studies for the National Association of State Budget Officers, said of Texas.

    Even as Perry requested the Recovery Act money, he railed against it. On the very same day he asked for the funds, he set up a petition titled “No Government Bailouts.”

    “Join our fight and add your voice to a growing list of several thousand Americans who are fed up with this irresponsible spending that threatens our future,” Perry wrote on his blog on Feb. 18, 2009.

    A governor’s spokeswoman played down the money’s role in shoring up Texas’s finances.

    “Texas would have balanced its budget regardless of the presence of stimulus dollars,” said Lucy Nashed, Perry’s deputy press secretary. “This money came from the pockets of Texas taxpayers, and we are committed to getting our fair share of these dollars, which would have otherwise been disbursed to other states.”

  20. ..let the games begin… (Thanks for posting the ad, Swarthmore mom.)

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