Update (4:05 p.m. ET): Digg.com user ScionAltera performed a similar search to test our method of measuring a candidate's popularity with BlogPulse.com, and wrote this comment on the popular news aggregation site:
This US News and World Report story claims that a site called BlogPulse (blogpulse.com) lists Obama and McCain leading in blog buzz. I just went to the site myself and entered the search terms "gravel", "paul" and "obama". It turns out that Ron Paul leads Barack Obama and Mike Gravel by a huge margin. Did the author just forget to look?
This user searched for the terms "Gravel," "Paul" and "Obama" and received these results. However, that search is different than our method, which searched for a candidate's full name. Using our method, the same three name yields this result.
The difference is that searches for only one part of a candidate's name retrieve many unrelated results, particularly for common names like Paul.
Original post (11:28 a.m. ET): If the 2008 presidential election were judged by activity in the blogosphere, the race would currently be a dead heat between Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama, according to Blogpulse.com, one of several sites that measure online buzz.
McCain easily walks off with the Republican E-nomination in a buzz battle with rival GOP candidates Rudy Giuliani and Gov. Mitt Romney, who are generally considered to be the top three declared candidates in the field. (See chart)
The race on the Democratic side is closer, with Obama generally polling just a little higher than either Sen. Hillary Clinton or former Sen. John Edwards. (See chart)
But when it comes down to the general election, it's anyone's take. McCain and Obama trade off in prominence, depending on who's making more headlines that day. (Matchup)
But Republicans beware: Former Sen. Fred Thompson is catching up.
--Chris Wilson
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