Much as been made as of late of Sarah Palin's association with the Tea Party movement and how many Republicans have been angling for her endorsements during this election cycle. Her recent fundraiser appearance for a small Northern California university brought up calls for transparency in how the state universities handle their finances. Apparently, Sarah Palin is the new GOP kingmaker this year. But how much can this translate to the general election?
A lot of hay has been made about Palin's comments via Twitter, especially in regards to Rep. Joe Barton's apology to BP. This got me thinking: how many people actually follow Sarah Palin on Twitter? So, I went to check it out. As of this writing, Sarah Palin has 180,116 followers on Twitter. Check it out. 180,116 people may seem like a lot. But let's crunch the numbers:
Here are but a few cities that have larger populations than the number of Sarah Palin's followers on Twitter:
- Salt Lake City, UT (183,171)
- Des Moines, IA (198,460)
- Yonkers, NY (201,162)
- Irvine, CA (209,716)
- Durham, NC (229,174)
- Danny Masterson (from That's 70's Show): 1,378,135
- Soliel Moon Frye (aka Punky Brewster): 1,417,878
- Ana Marie Cox (Washington-based journalist): 1,465,269
- Sen. John McCain (you know who he is): 1,724,719
- Al Gore (you also know who he is): 2,137,093
- President Barack Obama: 4,348,934
- "Real Housewives of New York City" cast member Bethenny Frankel: 200,579
Yes, that's correct. Punky Brewster and a reality TV star/personal chef have more followers on Twitter than Sarah Palin. The argument can be made that the bulk of people who like Sarah Palin aren't tuned into Twitter. But with the huge push that Obama made on social networks to help get his win in 2008, obviously a fight over social networks will be pivotal in 2012. So, let's take a look at Facebook. According to Sarah Palin's Facebook page as of this writing, Sarah Palin has 1,701,818 followers. Not shabby by a long shot. But you know who has 5 times as many followers on Twitter? President Barack Obama, at 9,240,780. If Palin actually wants to run against Obama in 2012, she has her work cut out for her. These numbers also mean that her influence over the political climate is definitely limited to the Right side of the spectrum and not inclusive of the middle, which is key in any election cycle.
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