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Obama Leads in Buzz, Favorite Web Destinations by Party Affiliation Issued

In the weeks (January 1-29) leading up to Super Tuesday, Barack Obama drove the largest share of blog discussions* among the presidential candidates still in the running, accounting for 0.59% of the total, while rival Hillary Clinton ranked a close second, according to Nielsen Online.

Online buzz about candidate Clinton accounted for 0.51% of all online discussion, Nielsen said.

The three remaining Republican contenders were evenly matched: John McCain and Mike Huckabee each garnered 0.29% of discussion, while Mitt Romney accounted for 0.28%.

Obama’s surprise upset in Iowa on January 3 provided fodder for online discussion, as did Clinton’s comeback in New Hampshire and John McCain’s emergence as the Republican frontrunner.

The favorite web destinations of Democrats, Republicans and Independents:

• Independents

• Republicans

• Democrats

Campaign websites this election season have played a more prominent role than ever, with barackobama.com and mikehuckabee.com leading the way:

*Buzz volume is based on a sample of 26,387,540 messages posted to blogs.