Attentio is tracking the United States Democratic primaries in two separate projects.
Project one tracks the overall popularity of the Democratic candidates in social media.
While Hillary Clinton and Obama have about equal coverage in the news, Barack Obama is one of the most popular personas in the blog-o-sphere, outstriping Clinton (and McCain) in several social media sources.
Project two follows issues and then candidates. The project links issues that are important to the American people with the names of the candidates. In this project, Clinton (that is, Hil) consistently rates higher than Obama in relation to the issue.
Hillary ranks higher in correlation to Iraq, to health care, and to the economy. Clinton even outranks Obama in relation to one of his pet policies, education. Clinton outstrips Obama here in both English and that language of increasing importance in the USA, Spanish.
The US and the world are smitten with Obama, it’s true. He’s good-looking, idealistic, and popular enough to win the couer of the people if not the Democratic candidacy. Clinton complains she’s become the damned in the media, while they darling Obama. Clinton claims that her policies are more practical and her politics more tested. But does that matter if Obama can win the heart of the people?
Barack might be fit enough for the media, but is he fit to lead the country? Buzz suggests possibly not, as he’s not well-connected to the issues that the US citizens hold dear. But in the modern culture of cult celebrity, one need not be connected to anything to sell clothes, magazines, or, well, anything really. In such a climate, is it really necessary that Obama push his abilities and policies, or is he safe enough to simply sit back and watch his general popularity grow?
What wins an election, word of mouth (WOM) or experience?