Online Interest To Offline Action: Who Will Win The New Hampshire Primary?

The pressure is on for Republican presidential hopefuls today, as New Hampshire residents head to the polls to cast their votes in the nation’s first primary election. Mitt Romney, who won the Iowa caucus last week by eight votes, barely beating out Rick Santorum, is currently in the lead, although his edge is beginning to fade somewhat. According to pollsters, Jon Huntsman is neck and neck with Ron Paul, who receives more online mentions than any other candidate.

The Washington Post’s Mention Machine has has tracked information indicating that Paul has been mentioned 353,497 times on Twitter and 5,056 in traditional media this week. President Obama has been talked about the most outside of the Twitterverse with 11,888 offline mentions, while his name has been present in 141,219 micro-posts. Huntsman has had the least amount of social media dialogue surrounding him this week. It’s still unclear how much digital platforms can accurately serve as a barometer in the political race, but it sure is fun observing the various online tactics.