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If you are a serious political junkie, then life just got a little better, as Hitwise has launched a new Election 2008 Data Center that offers online usage data about the 2008 U.S. presidential election.

The new feature to the Hitwise Data Center measures which candidates are the most visited online and which candidates receive the highest volume of searches. The sample of Hitwise data is available to the public.

The top Republican candidate 2008 Web sites for the week ending August 4, 2007 were Ron Paul with a 44 percent share of the market, followed by Mitt Romney with 16 percent and Rudy Giuliani with 11 percent.

The most popular Democratic candidate 2008 Web sites for the same time period were Barack Obama with a 40 percent market share, trailing was Hilary Clinton at 24 percent and John Edwards with 18 percent.

The Hitwise Election 2008 data is based on online usage and search behavior of over 10 million U.S. Internet users who interact with more than 1 million Web sites across 160 industry categories. The data updates every Tuesday.

There are nine categories that the Hitwise Election 2008 Data Center cover including Top Presidential Candidate 2008 Web sites, the Top Democratic and Republican 2008 Web sites, the Top 10 Presidential Candidate Search Terms, Top 10 National Political Web sites, Top 10 National Political Search Terms, Fast Moving National Political Web sites, Candidate of the Month and Election 2008 Blog Articles.

"As the Internet continues to evolve as a major communications channel for candidates and a platform for the public to research issues, we are delighted to share insights on how American Internet users react to political campaigns and policies online as the election unfolds," said Tessa Court, chief marketing officer, Hitwise