Ron Paul Is The 2nd Most Popular GOP Candidate On Facebook (And He’s Gaining)

[bobbyw24]

I know there are lots of people out there who have passionate feelings about Ron Paul. He’s a principled and independent fighter for old-time American values, or a conspiracy theorist loon, or someone who let idiotic racist stuff get published in his newsletters decades ago… or whatever else it is that you see about him that makes you react.

I’m not here to take sides and tell you how to vote, I’m just writing this article to point out that he’s been gaining the most new Facebook fans every day for most of the past month. He’s now the second-most popular candidate behind Mitt Romney (and Democratic incumbent Barack Obama, of course), according to the Inside Facebook Election Tracker.

Paul currently has 655,000 fans, half of Romney’s 1.23 million, and a fraction of Obama’s 24.3 million, but he’s well ahead of third-place primary candidate Michele Bachmann. Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich, who has appeared at many points in recent weeks to be Romney’s main Republican challenger, has had pretty minimal growth.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/23/ron-paul-is-the-second-most-popular-republican-candidate-on-facebook-and-hes-gaining/

[freedom-maniac]

I've seriously never understood how Romney can have that many FB fans. My only thought is perhaps there is only one "Mitt Romney" page, whereas Dr. Paul has less as there are numerous "Ron Paul" pages, and it's hard to discern the official one.

[mavtek]

Yes, I find this very annoying, and why can't I find and like Ron Paul on mobile facebook?

[VBRonPaulFan]

I've seriously never understood how Romney can have that many FB fans. My only thought is perhaps there is only one "Mitt Romney" page, whereas Dr. Paul has less as there are numerous "Ron Paul" pages, and it's hard to discern the official one.

no, the official one is the first one that comes up when you start to type in Ron Paul i believe. we've been over this numerous times. mitt has spent a lot of advertising cash pushing his page on facebook, whereas ron hasn't spent any. it makes a difference when the same ad shows up in the sidebar over and over and over.

[MrTudo]

24 million to 655,000. Speaks volumes about Americans

[Carole]

I've seriously never understood how Romney can have that many FB fans. My only thought is perhaps there is only one "Mitt Romney" page, whereas Dr. Paul has less as there are numerous "Ron Paul" pages, and it's hard to discern the official one.

I think it is more likely that Romney bought his first half million "likes". If you look at his daily tracking numbers, there is no way that he has more the 400,000 to 500,000 "like"s.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?316181-Tracking-candidate-facebook-likes&highlight=tracking+facebook+likes

[Matthew Zak]

24 million to 655,000. Speaks volumes about Americans

Well he is the president. It kind of makes him relevant. People like the illusion of knowing the president.

[silk30]

no, the official one is the first one that comes up when you start to type in Ron Paul i believe. we've been over this numerous times. mitt has spent a lot of advertising cash pushing his page on facebook, whereas ron hasn't spent any. it makes a difference when the same ad shows up in the sidebar over and over and over.

Not sure why RP's campaign and supporters are not pushing for what VBRonPaulFan is talking about. Love or hate facebook, facebook advertising could make a huge difference for RP and spreading his message. Am I missing something?!

[opinionatedfool]

I wonder what Ron Pauls total is when you add up all the random ones. I'm guessing it would be over a million.

[steph3n]

I only have friends on facebook, I don't and won't friend Ron Paul, Obama, Mitt or anyone else, or any business I am not a part of or support on a weekly basis with my business in person.
I know I am not alone in that regard.

[FreeTraveler]

Not sure why RP's campaign and supporters are not pushing for what VBRonPaulFan is talking about. Love or hate facebook, facebook advertising could make a huge difference for RP and spreading his message. Am I missing something?!
Yeah, the fact that young demographics are already overwhelmingly for Ron, and his most passionate preachers are also in that age range. There's certainly already more passionate preaching for RP on Facebook and the internet in general than anywhere else. The campaign looks to the grassroots to take care of the younger and internet-savvy voters so they can concentrate on the older ones. Smart strategy, IMO.

A message the internet contingent constantly sends to the campaign: "We can handle this part, you concentrate on meatspace." They believe you. Win-win.

You want Facebook advertising? Convince your peers, just like people do to fund other projects. We're very democratic here. ;)

[FreeTraveler]

I wonder what Ron Pauls total is when you add up all the random ones. I'm guessing it would be over a million.

Post the total here in the thread when you get it figured out. I'm sure a lot of people would like to know.