There science to predicting elections is all as faulty as the ground beneath Los Angeles. What about all this new media technology–shouldn’t that give a window? Well, maybe. But you can’t tell anything by counting the candidates’ new media inroads–on Twitter Obama has 18 million followers and Romney 775K. That’s not reflective of how support breaks down in the real world. How then? In a twist on the old adage “follow the money” let’s acknowledge our culture and play “follow the celebrity.” After all, according to comedian Kathy Griffin (an Obama supporter), “Here (in America) we let Oprah pick.”
As of August 5, 2012, top celebrities on Twitter who endorse Mitt Romney for President (with follower numbers in parenthesis) are: Donald Trump (1.3m), Gene Simmons (371k), Chuck Norris (196k), Kid Rock (95k), Ted Nugent (78k), and most recently Clint Eastwood (24k and without yet having tweeted.) Top celebrities endorsing Obama: Lady Gaga (28m), Oprah (13m), Ashton Kutcher (11.7m), Beyonce (4.9m), and Tom Hanks (4.5m). As of today, Alec Baldwin is off Twitter. It may be as exact as anything else.
