Every time you turn on the television, it is a constant  reminder that it is an election year.  Some of the most argumentative and socially unmanageable political debates happen right in the middle of our living rooms; and, because we have so many voices, those unknowledgeable of current debate issues turn to their favorite television station with their most recognized political reporter or pundit. My favorite happens to be Anderson Cooper, but that is neither here nor there.

This image of Anderson Cooper comes from the CNN website.

Now, let us get back to the topic at hand.  Strictly based on Twitter supporters, the frontrunners of the republican primaries have the following number of followers: Newt Gingrich, with a little over 1.4 million, Mitt Romney, with over 347,000 and Rick Santorum, with over 142,000.  Now, we may not be able to predict the republican primaries on twitter supporters, especially since only 13% of Twitter supporters are adults; but, what about the effect of parental  influence?  An article written by McIntosh, Hart and Youniss entitled The Influence of Family Political Discussion on Youth Civic Development: Which Parent Qualities Matter? showed that political knowledge–not social standing in society–was what emotionally affected the thought process of the youth.  That being said, not only would we be able to conclude that these children were reflections of their parents but, also, that they were potentially political reflections on election outcomes.

When it came to the democratic primaries, it was a slugfest.  When it came to over saturation in social media, Senator Obama dominated his fellow running mates before he became president.  In twitter alone, he had more than 11 times the followers of McCain on Twitter. 

The results may not represent all of the voices in the 2008 democratic primaries; but, if these sequences of events are a reflection on the previous elections, we may need to start paying attention.