What can we learn from the GOP contenders’ Twitter feeds?

I used Jeff Clark’s Tweet Topic Explorer to analyze the Twitter feeds of the major GOP presidential contenders for 2012 to see what patterns emerged. Here’s what I found.

Let’s start with Mitt Romney:

(Click on any image to go to the live map and explore in depth).

Romney’s Twitter feed leads with BLOGGED READ GOMITT and ROMNEY. So his main topics are cerebral (blogging, reading) and self-promotional (GoMitt, Romney).

Next up is Donald Trump:

Trump clearly leads with self-promotion: TRUMP, APPRENTICE, DONALD, WATCH. Can you imagine if your last name was the most frequent topic of your Twitter feed? What would that say about you?

Next is Newt Gingrich:

Gingrich leads with his wife (@CALLYGINGRICH). I suppose he wishes to make it clear to his Twitter followers that he loves her. Next most frequent for Gingrich is AMERICA. Interesting to find that on his Twitter feed, Gingrich’s fondness for his wife and America go hand-in-hand.

Next up is Sarah Palin:

Palin leads with ALASKA, OBAMA, and AMERICA. Honestly, I thought these results were a little disappointing. Beyond her somewhat generic main topics, there are a ton of other topics that receive similar amounts of attention, with nothing emerging as a clear theme. It would seem that Palin needs a little more Twitter messaging strategy. Overall, Palin’s Twitter feed is responding to events as opposed to putting out a specific message.

Next is Mike Huckabee:

This is another result that I was disappointed in. For Huckabee, I thought for sure that Jesus, Bible, Church, etc. would come to the top. But instead we have HUCK PLS PAC JOIN TEAM HELP BOOK TOUR. This amount of self-promotion is second (barely) only to Trump. Not exactly how I thought this populist candidate would appear on Twitter.

Next is the Reverend Ron Paul:

Another big disappointment. I assumed Paul would be leading with policy. But instead we get SCHEDULED FOX BUSINESS and COLUMN POSTED. Perhaps one would get the Paul policy in the Fox Business appearances and/or the posted columns, but this Twitter feed seems, again, to be primarily about self-promotion and less about policy messaging. We do see FED as a major topic of his feed, but well after the messages touting his TV appearances.

OK, here is Michelle Bachmann:

Bachmann is clearly the political soldier in this GOP field, leading with TCOT GOP OBAMACARE HEALTH CARE BILL TAX. No other candidate is using their Twitter feed primarily or mostly to put out policy or political messages. And Bachmann is obviously positioning herself to be the 2012 tea party candidate.

Last up is Tim Pawlenty:

These results are a little sad. First, Pawlenty is leading with CHECK (as in, “please send a check my campaign is dying here.” I kid). Beyond that, what is the message? We get a little WATCH FOX, some HEALTH CARE, but that is it. Pawlenty has worse Twitter messaging than Palin. Clearly he needs to get a theme going if he wants to compete in this crowded field.

In Conclusion – What Have We Learned

Beyond interesting results with individual candidates, what themes emerge from taking a visual look at GOP candidate Twitter topics?

First, none of these candidates are leading with religion (Jesus, Church, Bible, Christian, Muslim, etc.). Is it possible that the GOP 2012 field is moving beyond religion? Competitive candidates include the not religious (Trump, Gingrich [I know he’s a Catholic now, but come one]) and the not traditionally Christian (Romney). Perhaps this is creating a less religious competition for the GOP? Or maybe religion has yet to emerge in this contest? Or maybe TCOT is the new GOP religion, in which case Bachmann is most devout.

Second, FOX is essential to all of these candidates, with the exception of Trump and Romney. Paul led with FOX more than any other candidate, and then Palin, Huckabee, Bachmann, and Pawlenty had a clear emphasis on FOX, with Gingrich a little behind.

Third, Trump, Huckabee, and to a lesser extent Paul and Romney are using Twitter for self-promotion. The other candidates not quite as much. This raises the question of how Twitter should be used for political candidates. As a political policy messaging tool; political attack/defense tool; tool for fundraising, self-promotion, etc.; all of the above? Political communication practitioners and scholars should debate/discuss.

Lastly, some of these candidates have clear Twitter messaging and others do not. Palin and Pawlenty seem lost. As mentioned previously, Trump, Huckabee, Paul, and Romney are promoting themselves via Twitter. Bachmann is leading the TCOT political fight. Gingrich wants everyone to know he loves his wife. It will be interesting to see how these themes change over the campaign. STAY TUNED.

**One last note, the Tweet Topic Explorer analyzes only the last 800 tweets, so these themes reflect recent tweets, not all tweets from these users.