Politics and Elections Blog
Trends, tools and news from the Google Politics & Elections team
The Top Political Videos of 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
(Cross-posted from
YouTube's News and Politics Blog
)
From
candidate ads
to
pundit debates
,
speeches
from the White House to
impassioned pleas
from the American heartland, this year’s most-viewed political videos show us that a message that resonates can come from anywhere -- and anyone.
Surpassing the President and various presidential hopefuls in views, the #1 video on our list comes from a young man in Iowa speaking candidly to his government. Zach Wahls’ 3 minute speech defending gay marriage has been viewed more than 18 million times.
Three candidates for 2012 made the most-viewed political videos list. Gov. Rick Perry's highly-covered "
Strong
" ad was uploaded just this month, but has already racked up 7 million views (another one of his ads, “Proven Leadership” is also on the list). Herman Cain, who recently suspended his bid for President, showed that
quirky
gets views. President Obama reached an audience of millions on YouTube as both
commander in chief
, and
stand up comedian
.
Here’s the full list of the most-viewed political videos from the YouTube News and Politics category:
1.
Zach Wahls speaks about family
2.
President Obama at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner
3.
Strong
[Rick Perry ad]
4.
President Obama on death of Osama bin Laden
5.
Brother, can you spare a trillion? Government gone wild!
6.
Seth Meyers remarks at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner
7.
Rick Perry - Proven Leadership
8.
Jon Stewart Goes Head-to-Head Bill O'Reilly
9.
Now is the time for action!
[Herman Cain ad]
10.
President Barack Obama's First Ad of 2012
[NRSC Ad]
In all, the videos on this list account for over 50 million views, demonstrating that there is significant interest in political video on YouTube before the primaries have even begun. For all the key moments in online political video during the coming election, visit
YouTube.com/Politics
. For more of YouTube’s most-viewed videos of 2011, visit
YouTube.com/Rewind
.
Digital Horserace: One month out, Gingrich leads Google searches in all four early states
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
With the Iowa Caucuses less than one month away, we thought it was time to take another look at where the candidates are in terms of search queries across the four early primary states. With Herman Cain’s pivot from Republican frontrunner to campaign after-thought, Google’s Insights for Search tools is showing former Speaker Newt Gingrich stepping into the void and accelerating his momentum - just as formalized polling data indicates.
Here’s what we found:
Perry’s gaffe wasn’t the only outcome from November 9 debate. Gingrich also started to take off then.
Gingrich has recently taken the lead in searches; beginning in early November, the former Speaker has captured the attention of the country and has taken the search lead in the four early states.
Interest in Mitt Romney is on a strong upward trajectory since December 1, indicating that American searchers are narrowing their choices to Governor Romney and Speaker Gingrich.
The spark that has driven Newt to the apparent front of the pack was - surprisingly - the November 9 debate. That night was best known for the (now) famous Rick Perry agency gaffe, but looking at how Americans searched,
it is clear
that Newt Gingrich was really the breakout star. The morning after the debate (November 10), Politico’s Maggie Haberman was
one of many journalists to point
to the building Newtmentum, writing, “If Cain’s numbers crater, Gingrich is the likeliest to benefit.” Looking at the data, it appears that the debate was pivotal in the campaign.
While sentiment and interest from voters across the country matters in this campaign, however, the near-term direction of the GOP race (and length of the primary process) is coming down to four early states: Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida. Public polling is showing a mixed bag: In Iowa, Gingrich has gone out to a new lead over rival Mitt Romney. However in
New Hampshire
, Romney continues holding a strong lead, though it has diminished significantly in recent weeks to Gingrich’s benefit. The third and fourth primary/caucus states this year are
South Carolina
and
Florida
, where Gingrich holds double-digit leads.
Google users across the same four states show that their interest in the race - and specifically in Gingrich - is up significantly since early November. All four states show a lead in searches for Gingrich over rival Romney. The interest in Gingrich is unprecedented.
Gingrich out to
search lead
in Iowa recently.
In what is expected to be one of Romney’s strongest states,
New Hampshire searchers
are looking for info on Newt Gingrich in big numbers recently. Romney still holds the volume lead for 2011.
Mirroring polling data, Gingrich has
big lead in terms of recent searches
in Florida.
South Carolina
searches show one of the largest current gaps
between Romney and Gingrich.
When looking in isolation, across the country, searches for Governor Mitt Romney
are on an upward trajectory
indicating that searchers are narrowing their interest to Romney and Gingrich.
Since December 1, searches are heading straight up. Connecting voters to information about issues and platforms is core to Google's effort around elections. It is clear that searchers are digging in as the elections get closer.
Will the search trends hold up? Will Newt Gingrich extend his search lead or will Mitt Romney close the gap? We’ll be watching along with most of the country starting in early January at the Iowa Caucuses.
Posted by: Jake Parrillo, Google Politics & Elections Team
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