MIRROR, MIRROR, ON THE WALL, WHO’S THE NET SAVVIEST OF THEM ALL?….Chris Mooney points to today’s Lycos 50 column, which is all about the Democratic presidential candidates and asks the question, who’s the most popular on the internet these days? Why, Howard Dean, of course!
How popular on the Internet is Dean these days? More popular than Madonna, Dr. Phil, or Alyssa Milano.
Hmmm, is that the best they could do? I mean, at least I’ve heard of Madonna and Dr. Phil, but who’s Alyssa Milano?
Anyway, it’s no surprise that Dean has “left his competition in the dust when it comes to online popularity,” since he’s the only one of the bunch who’s really using the internet much at all. But the list also reminds me of what a tiny crowd we news junkies are: Dean may lead the presidential wannabe pack, but he doesn’t even register in the overall Lycos Top 50, ranking behind Neopets, Metallica, FAFSA, and other pop culture icons. At this point, there really aren’t very many people who care about anybody who’s running for president.
The column doesn’t give exact rankings for each of the contenders, but here’s the list in order of internet popularity:
1. Gov. Howard Dean
2. Sen. John Kerry
3. Gen. Wesley Clark
4. Sen. John Edwards
5. Rep. Dennis Kucinich
6. Sen. Bob Graham
7. Rev. Al Sharpton
8. Sen. Joe Lieberman
9. Rep. Dick Gephardt
10. Sen. Carol Mosley Braun
