Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Is Facebook an Accurate Representation of Young America's Political Views?

According to Facebook.com's Election '08 Application in which 263,911 people have voted on who they want to be president:
Barack Obama (Democrat) is in the lead with 24% and 64,670 votes
Ron Paul (Republican) is a far off second with 9% and 24,422 votes
Rudy Guiliani (Republican) is third with a slightly lower 9% and 23,961 votes
Hillary Clinton (Democrat) is fourth with a barely lower 8% and 23,331 votes
Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney (Republicans) each have 4% with 12,873 and 10,638 votes respectively
John Edwards (Democrat) ranks #6 with 3% and 9,201 votes
And Al Gore, who has not proposed any interest in the candidacy since the 2004 election, has 2% and 6,692 votes.

The reason I gave you all of that information is because I'm curious about the implications that these numbers make.

First off let me say that these questions are based on the assumption that people who have used the Election '08 application are people who are interested in politics and therefore who, if eligible, will vote when the time comes.
Facebook.com also started as an exclusively collegiate connective tool.
In using the application, people are allowed to vote for more than one candidate.

Now, my questions are these:

Are these numbers an even vaguely accurate representation of Young America?

If yes, will this interest be translated to action on polling day?

If Hillary Clinton does not have a following in young, collegiate America - arguably a non-traditional crowd, where is her following?

Does she stand a chance in the eyes of conservatives? Traditionalists?

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