McCain, Obama, Clinton through the eye of the Plex

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63 commentsTuesday, February 12, 2008

What Google Says About The Candidates

McCain, Obama, Clinton through the eye of the Plex

63 Comments

By Web Site Monitoring (WPN reader) - Wed, 11/19/2008 - 12:00

Well..

Well, now we see that Obama as well as having SEO advantage, has real popularity advantage. Jason's method is cool ;)

By العاب (WPN reader) - Sun, 10/19/2008 - 20:38

thank you

Another great article

By Blue Ray Ripper (WPN reader) - Sun, 05/31/2009 - 03:23

yeah.you got it,

By chicago personal injury (WPN reader) - Fri, 08/22/2008 - 09:22

Great post

Great post Jason. Enjoy reading your articles.

By Visa Attorney (WPN reader) - Tue, 07/15/2008 - 09:07

Great article

Great article. Great perspective on the current issues as they pertain to Google.

By Website Review (WPN reader) - Fri, 07/11/2008 - 18:17

Great Post Jason

Another great article.

By Gary (WPN reader) - Sun, 05/11/2008 - 14:24

Why are 2 videos gone?

Why is the Obama video still posted, but the other 2 are "no longer availible"??

By Jason Lee Miller (WPN reader) - Mon, 05/12/2008 - 15:40

all still work

as far as i can tell, all are still working fine cheers

By Guest (WPN reader) - Thu, 02/14/2008 - 15:58

Jason, The article was humorous until I read the end and realized it was over before it was finished. To your credit you did at least leave us with a hint of the real truth...

"Therefore, the overall Internet winner for the US Presidential Election of 2008 is… Ron Paul?"

This closing line suggest you knew that Ron Paul has internet success but yet you failed to include his net presence in the article with the reasoning that there was only enough room for the ' Primary Front Runners".

First, the article was about internet presence, "What Google Says", not reality figures, not the primary figures.

Now consider this; How can the 'Others' be expected to do well in the primaries when people who have opportunity and responsibility to inform, do not inform?

What do reporters do when correction is in order? Isn't it called a retraction?

Please make amends Jason, I have faith in your skills that you can find the angle, add more class to your style and Do Your Job With Integrity!

Comment is offered as constructive criticism by a faithful reader of your column.

By Jason Lee Miller (WPN reader) - Thu, 02/14/2008 - 16:46

no retraction

With all due respect, faithful reader (and thank you for reading), but a retraction is necessary when something false or incorrect is printed (inadvertently or not) and the truth needs to be clarified. On the web, we have the priviledge of not only writing an article update, but also to update the old article itself with complete transparency.

However, in this case an editorial decision was made to cover the three candidates that still have a shot for their party's nomination, and not the ones who don't. I don't know Ron Paul's chances for success among the Independent voters, but for the Republican party, he's finished, unless he gets a VP nod. That being an editorial decision and not a misprint, no retraction is needed unless you also feel that my preference for, say, navy-blue sweatshirts or White Sox ballcaps should also be retracted. I do apologize, though, for not meeting your standards.

But another thing I'd like to make clear: WebProNews has not ignored Ron Paul, not in the slightest. We covered him pretty heavily, especially as an Internet phenomenon, over the past year. When he ceased being a viable candidate by not grabbing near enough delegates in the primary, he ceased being relevant in the larger race. But I did give him the mention at the end b/c I know not only how popular he is online, but also how vehement his supporters are. And like I've said half a dozen times in this comment thread, I dig the guy: he's a libertarian fireball, hrrrah!

But just so it's clear that we haven't ignored Ron Paul, do a search for his name on the site and you'll see page after page of coverage, which might meet what you define (read: not as we have defined it) as our responsibility to inform. I'll save you some trouble by posting a few of the links here:

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/01/17/watch-the-vote-truveo-adds-campaign-videos

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/01/17/google-launches-checkout-for-political-contributions

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/01/07/obama-huckabee-win-new-hampshire-web-visits

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/01/04/sirius-celebrates-83-million-subscribers

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/01/04/did-web-traffic-predict-the-iowa-caucus-results

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2007/12/20/compete-meetupcom-helps-ron-paul-campaign

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2007/12/18/yahoo-unveils-political-dashboard

http://www.webpronews.com/blogtalk/2007/12/18/asks-top-search-queries-for-the-year

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2007/12/17/google-tops-among-ron-paul-donors

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2007/08/03/someone-plays-politics-on-yahoo-news

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2007/03/19/myspace-launches-political-channel

By Faithful Reader (WPN reader) - Tue, 02/19/2008 - 20:55

Thanks for the Links

One might think my faith wasn’t as full during those times but I noticed that you didn’t write all of those articles, which I will use as my excuse for missing them. :)

It still remains; That the title implies all candidates. The content doesn’t offer the reason for selecting those few as a matter of fact it refers to them as the remaining candidates.

Is ‘misleading’ the same as false or incorrect? I guess exercising your privilege to write an article update depends on how you answer that question.

The oversight seems to be genuine as opposed to bias which makes it easier to forget.

Thanks Jason, your work is appreciated!

By SEO (WPN reader) - Sat, 02/16/2008 - 19:23

Kudos to you!

Hey kudos to you Jason, You are big man. Sorry I missed the earlier articles. I would point out though there is a difference between bound and unbound delegates. For McCain to be assured of the nomination he has to win about 70% of the remaining vote. So there is still hope for RP fans. That is absolutely massive.

If in the first round of voting at the national convention he does not receive 51% of the vote all bets are off and all delegates are unbound and can vote for whomever they like. Some states have not even selected delegates yet. Guess which grassroots movement is out there trying to get delegate seats :-)

The great thing about the net is we don't just have to read CNN or Faux news headlines regurgitated. With a bit of research it is amazing what you can find out ;-) Just because they tell us it is over doesn't make it so.

Not to mention the freedom march planned on the Nations capital will be a huge boost. Luvyawork

By SEO (WPN reader) - Thu, 02/14/2008 - 01:35

Are you serious!

The biggest Internet political phenomena in history and you ignore it???

I'd love to know why Jason is ignoring Ron Paul

He has broken all single day fundraising records.... twice.

He was the largest GOP fundraiser in Q407

He has 3 times as many Google searches of any candidate.

There are over 112,000 videos about Ron Paul on Youtube.

McCain has less than 7000

Ever tried to upload to Youtube? You have to be dedicated.

Meetup groups

97,214 Ron Paul Supporters in 1,602 Meetups from 1,185 Cities
…and 10,119 more waiting to hear when a a new one starts. I belong to the Melbourne Australia Ron Paul Meetup group. There are about 40 members.

Barack Obama has 5300 members in 92 Groups.

John McCain has None!!!!!!!!

The Ron Paul story is a massive one. This sort of organisation of grassroots using the Internet is unprecedented. Supporters are challenging vote counts in many of the states. You may have seen the doco recently called "Hacking Democracy" Bev from that film is leading the charge on the recount front.

His supporters funded a Ron Paul Blimp to fly up and down the East Coast.

Yet 4 days before Super Tues CNN did not show or mention him in any of the headlines. Much the same way as you did today. Many talk shows have also excluded him from their reporting.

WHat are you scared of Jason?

By Jason Lee Miller (WPN reader) - Thu, 02/14/2008 - 08:35

Conspiracy

As mentioned by others, I'm part of a vast media conspiracy to spin election coverage in a certain direction. Actually, I did mention Ron Paul, at the end, in jest because I'm aware of his Internet popularity. Unfortunately for him and his supporters, that popularity has not translated to actual primary votes or actual party delegates. As also said earlier, I like Ron Paul b/c of his libertarian leanings and his fiery rhetoric...but I think to a good portion of the country he comes off as the wrong kind of crazy (McCain's brand of crazy being the right kind, I suppose). I chose three candidates, not two, even though I'm fairly certain Hillary's toast, because there are three candidates. that have a shot at the nomination still. As for what I'm afraid of: bears, hurricanes, centipedes, and people confusing Internet reality with actual reality. Stay warm; it's freezing here in central KY.

By YimPlex (WPN reader) - Wed, 02/13/2008 - 07:38

Obama is great

Today is the day after tomorrow.Obama is the one of American
Negro.Something 'll be change in the future if he is answer.

By Jen (WPN reader) - Wed, 02/13/2008 - 02:03

Eye on the Internets

...And yes, my subject line is a slam against the idiot in office. While there is no doubt that Web searches will influence some voters, we should know by the Howard Dean campaign that popularity on the net does not equate votes. It is terrible how Clinton is slammed for, quite basically, just being a woman. And that is precisely why I do not want to see her win the primaries. This country's sexism is showing far too much these days. I think we are long overdue for a woman president, but thanks to King George, we have been sent back to the middle ages. If people want to attack her, there is plenty of fodder without having to resort to low blows. Just mention how bought and paid for she is by K-Street and Grover Norquist's crowd. The very same thing that gave her husband his "moderate" appeal. And, I am not referring to campaign contributions. I am speaking of the lobbyist dollars she has accepted as a senator. It is expected that candidates raise large amounts of money from PACs during an election cycle in order to win. It would be nice to have publicly financed elections, but guess which party opposes that time and again? If you said Democrats, you are wrong. About the only thing that Sen. McCain has remained true to (other than his blind-sighted commitment to a drug-war defending our oil addiction) is campaign finance reform. Sadly, the best candidate for the presidency dropped out before the race began, and that is Sen. Russ Feingold (who, by the way, voted against going into Iraq in the first place). At least he was smart enough to see that to the largest fund raiser go the spoils. McCain will lose precisely because of this, but somehow, he has cleared the field of his foes. Why Romney, Paul and Huckabee are staying in is about as easy to comprehend as why Dennis Kucinich throws his hat in to the ring every election cycle. And this just burns the Republicans. They see a party that is wasting money in the primaries the way the Democrats usually do. And to rub salt in the wound, the guy they see as too liberal and free-thinking in their party (aka too old), is the guy who is out in front. As for Obama, there will be the expected attacks on his name, which is both racist and so childish. Is that enough to lose him an election? Could be, since windsurfing did John Kerry in. So who will be the spoiler? My prediction is beloved Ron Paul, uber-libertarian will take votes away from McCain in the general election since it seems likely he will run no matter what. The sad thing is, that despite what the elite crowd of uber-geeks think, it is far too late for libertarianism in this country. Why? Thanks to chimp boy in the oval office, we now have far too big a mess for a micro-government to deal with. So much for the chance of a third party.

By Kernel (WPN reader) - Tue, 02/12/2008 - 17:16

Obama and PAC Money

Dynamics change when coupling "Obama" with some other terms. Try "Obama" and "PACs" and one discovers (shock! surprise! horror!) that despite protestations to the contrary, the majority of Obama's campaign contributions come from special interest groups and lobbyists. Hmm...I guess Obama doesn't consider trial lawyers, unions, telcos, health insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, etc. etc. special interests. Trial lawyers (you know, those honest hard working folks who bring us all those important class action lawsuits) have kicked in 1.8 million so far for 2008.

The beauty of the 'net and Google search is that all is in plain view for those who care to look and ultimately accept the truth. The key is pairing.

My concern as a guy who makes his living on Web based applications is that the Socialists are in the pocket of the Unions, telcos, and the censorship crowd. If they win the White House, expect lots of lawsuits about how the 'net is taking away jobs and forget about open access on mobile devices for at least the next 20 years.

Careful what you wish for.

PS - Wonder why Al Gore is so big on carbon credits? Well, he is on the board of VC firm Kleiner Perkins which has invested heavily in carbon credits but I'm sure Al wants to save the planet and doesn't care about all those options and warrants he's holding.

PPS - I'm a genius. If the Democrats win, I will renounce my US citizenship, get a fake ID in every sanctuary city, file for welfare, and stop paying taxes for the next 4 years. Then I'll apply for citizenship under the amnesty program (remember, no prosecution for tax fraud or identity theft) and settle my tax bill for $5K! Forget everything I said earlier GO OBAMA!! Yippee!! Taxes and laws are for suckers.

By MIB (WPN reader) - Tue, 02/12/2008 - 17:02

H-1B program that works

Of course, whether it works depends on your goals. If you want to destroy the science and tech professions in the USA, the H-1B program works. If you want to drive down compensation for science & tech workers, the H-1B program works. If you want to transfer knowledge out of the USA, the H-1b program works. If you want to discourage students from studying science and tech, the H-1B program works. Of course, if you want to reward bright, industrious US citizens, provide a fulfilling career, and increase US citizens' interest in science and tech professions, and reward their creativity, the H-1B program certainly does not work.

By Me (WPN reader) - Tue, 02/12/2008 - 16:52

Google needs to get a clue...

Google said: "America's most popular search engine is bound to have a large role in determining who will be the world's most powerful person."

Oh please, give me a break. Could you be more pompus? Everybody knows that Yahoo is the portal to the political world. The political headlines are spread across the splash page every day. Who needs to search Google when you've got the portal to the WORLD, and yes, it does political searches just as well as Google.

Also, could you be more biased? You wrap a JFK flag around Barack, you give a pass to Hillary, you completely ignore three candidates (Garvey, Huckabee, and Paul), and to top it all off, you bash our President (some people have no respect). Hey, I may not agree with the President, but I don't take cheap shots either. Since you took the shot, I guess I'll just point out that the only difference between your understanding of foreign policy and the President's is your world view. He sees the bigger picture, you see the smaller one. You'll notice I'm making any judgments, just stating the facts. I'll let each individual, educated or not, decide which is the right view.

For once I'd like to see objective reporting, not political commentary coming from what's supposed to be an unbiased news source.

Hmm, why is it that when I do a Google search for: "Liberal pinko commie Google" it shows up with articles about RIGHT WING NUT JOBs and RAPE IN AND BY THE US MILITARY.

Funny, but when I do the exact same search using Yahoo, I get related articles titled PINKO COMMIE FEMINAZI MOMMY and DAMN HIPPEE LIBERAL TREES / BUSHCO WANTS YOU TO KNOW: CARING ABOUT THE...

Coincidence, I think not. How about being a little more objective next time. At least try to return relevent results, not libral propaganda.

Regarding this election, it looks like we're going to have a Senator for a President. That hasn't happened in 30+ years and historically, Senators make lousy Presidents. Senators don't lead, make decisions, or manage on a day-to-day basis like Govenors do. This President's term will be a lame-duck term regardless of who's elected. If a Democrat wins, the right-wing won't let them get anything done. If a Republican wins, the left-wing won't let them get anything done. Why, because we need leadership, but unfortunately there's no candidate available!

By Sam Maurer (WPN reader) - Tue, 02/12/2008 - 16:43

Is it the corrupt Media, or the ignorance of Americans?

I wonder what people in the rest of the world thinks about America and the ongoing election?

Americans claim to be the most powerful Nation on the Planet. The question is: What is the definition of Power? If the answer is aggression, or total control by Corporations, America would definitely qualify.

In my opinion Power would be better defined by good example of a Democracy, (ex. Switzerland), reality is, Americas Constitution has being violated to the extend that it is virtually non existing.

Now, is it the media misinforming the people, or the ignorance of Americans, that they are not aware of the only chance they have to save the Country from anarchy. Ron Paul is the only one who could accomplish that. He may not be perfect, no one is, but definitely the most believable. Power to the people is the best solution, not only for America, but for the rest of the world.

P.S. I would have expected Google would represent the people, why?, no people, no Google.

By James Clayton (WPN reader) - Tue, 02/12/2008 - 22:28

media

I have lived long enouch to see a pattern regarding our lib. media. Every time a rep. pres. is in office and it's election time our press starts screaming how bad the economy is and how everyone has loss their jobs. Our economy is only as good as we think it is. But our media knows if they help turn our economy south in the minds of the voters, it will benefit the dems. I used to think how bad the Russians had it , never being told the truth. Now I think we are all in the same pot of lies.

By Justamere10 (WPN reader) - Tue, 02/12/2008 - 16:29

Exposing the Mormons - Flexing Southern Muscle

When Mitt Romney's campaign was in full swing posts 'exposing' the Mormons clogged the campaign blogs and comments. Anti-Mormon messages morphed out of nowhere like mushrooms after a rain storm. LDS authorities seemed astonished at the intensity of the criticism...

Read the entire article at:

http://mittromney.townhall.com

By whatdoiknow (WPN reader) - Thu, 02/14/2008 - 17:44

Mitt Romney

Mitt is a straight shooter, in my oppinion, I don't care if he is a mormon....

Mc Cayne means well, but do we need war for another 100 years, I thought we wanted change...Hillary? God I hope not! Did anyone r ead the book by "Barbara Olsen" called the Final days, telling about the last and desperate abuses by the Clintin White House? Besides we would have both of them as president, as Hillary said, he would work part time...sure.. Can't anyone see beyond the lies?

BC. California.

By Gertie (WPN reader) - Tue, 02/12/2008 - 15:34

Ron Paul?

When you search for Ron Paul on Google Images you get pages of pro Ron Paul images from his official campaigns, grassroots movements, and basement supporters. There are no anti-Ron Paul images showing up.

When you search for Ron Paul on Google Maps you get a list of campaign headquarters and grassroots groups across the country.

When you search for Ron Paul on Google News you get pages of articles dating back to 1996. Today's list of headlines seem to be pro Ron Paul!

Even Google Shopping brings up Ron Paul and the many items of merchandise promoting his message of Freedom.

Videos... yupp.

Groups... yupp.

Books... wow, didn't realize Ron Paul had written so many books! He actually seems to CARE about this message he's speaking. It's not something his speechwriters whispered in his ear two minutes ago.

Blogs... there must be a lot to say about this Ron Paul guy, because EVERYBODY'S talking about him!

Ok, I rest my case.

Even the Washington Post agrees that Ron Paul is the most popular guy on the Internet.

If you want some information that Jason Lee Miller has neglected to share with you, just...

google Ron Paul.

:) gertie

http://ronpaulgrassroots.org

By Jason Lee Miller (WPN reader) - Tue, 02/12/2008 - 17:01

see below

I agree, just on the internet alone, ron paul seems like a shoe-in...until you get to the real world where the real primaries are where people are actually voting and he pulls something like 4%, 6% most. I rest my case. If he were a contender, I'd have covered him, and see my comments below to see how I feel about the guy himself

By President Hopeful Lanakila Washington (WPN reader) - Tue, 02/12/2008 - 15:15

You Tube slides

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qlawj75KJCE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsAGbBS7ScY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFiSoZImD-8

By President Hopeful Lanakila Washington (WPN reader) - Tue, 02/12/2008 - 15:13

YouTube Video

By Lanakila Washington (WPN reader) - Tue, 02/12/2008 - 15:09

Presidential Candidates

Greetings,

I want to let you know that other sources of media have not been looking hard enough when it comes to the 2008 presidential candidates.

Google keeps a good track record on Lanakila Washington. Please google his name and you will see that this presidential candidate should be included in main stream media!

Washington Victory Team.

By Guest (WPN reader) - Tue, 02/12/2008 - 15:04

it is just a wonder how the

it is just a wonder how the people can take of a President who refuses to swear on the Bible, but on Koran? how could they forget that?

By cj (WPN reader) - Sun, 02/17/2008 - 21:35

FACT CHECK, just check the facts

snopes.com

factcheck.org

You have been swindled, my friend, or you are a swindeler... (Hillary campain or extreme Right wing Republican?)

We do have a Muslim in Congress, but that is in the House, not the Senate that was sworn in on the Koran. But Barack Obama is in the Senate, DIFFERENT PERSON. Not all black people are the same person. Not sure you knew that. He is a Christian. There is nothing wrong with being a Muslim, but he is not one. 99% of Muslims are peace abiding folks, just as 99% of Christians are. There are extremists in all religions, you prove that. I'm sure that not all people of YOUR race and religion are closed-minded and prejudice.