Facebook chooses Paul, so far

Posted: Saturday, January 05, 2008 8:49 PM by Domenico Montanaro

From NBC's Andy Merten
As far as Facebook users are concerned, Huckabee pulled ahead of McCain since the last time we reported this poll:

Giuliani 5%
Thompson 4%
Huckabee 22%
McCain 15%
Romney 11%
Paul 43%

About 5,500 responded.

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Comments

Per your previous comment, you were expecting credibility from a poll on Facebook?

Anyway, think of the age Facebook users most likely are?

And now here were the entrance poll results from Iowa for 17-29:

Huckabee 40
Romney 22
Paul 21
McCain 7
Giuliani 5
Thompson 4
Hunter 1

So Paul's support among younger voters is double his nominal support, and most of the people on Facebook are that age.

rj (Sent Saturday, January 05, 2008 9:00 PM)

Why didn't the ABC news bunny mention that Ron Paul scored the highest with Facebook? That isn't news? Developing...

T Mac (Sent Saturday, January 05, 2008 9:03 PM)

This makes sense. Huckabee is the only Republican candidate who will not only communicate his positions, but also defend his decisions. We don't need another President Soundbite, who cannot relate his ideas and explain his actions to the people and the press. I will vote for Huckabee.

Terrence, Atlanta, Ga. (Sent Saturday, January 05, 2008 9:04 PM)

Why does this title say Huckabee is the chosen one, when Ron Paul has 43% of the vote. Very misleading MSNBC

Scott Baker, Phoenix (Sent Saturday, January 05, 2008 9:14 PM)

The title of this commentary is misleading. Facebook chose Ron Paul at 43% not Huckabee at 22%.
Perhaps the title should have been "Huckabee Ahead of Romney on Facebook Poll".

vat (Sent Saturday, January 05, 2008 9:16 PM)

Dear MSNBC spokesmouth,

43 > 22.

Look it up if you need help.

James Babb, Lower Providence Twp, PA (Sent Saturday, January 05, 2008 9:45 PM)

Please update your story, at best it makes you look stupid and at worst dishonest.

D. Iverson, Des Moines, IA (Sent Saturday, January 05, 2008 9:49 PM)

It's because the media has learned that past several weeks that Paul supporters spam every online poll in organized fashion. They have learned that his "votes" are not even close to reality.

Tom D. Indianapolis (Sent Saturday, January 05, 2008 10:05 PM)

If you're going to discount the Ron Paul part of the poll, what are your criteria for deciding the rest of the poll is fine? It's either valuable as it stands, or it isn't.

Rich, Valparaiso, Indiana (Sent Saturday, January 05, 2008 10:15 PM)

thank you for the much tougher questions you've asked the democrats.i'm proud of all of them,and pray that they will continue to talk to us,the people, as if we had a brain.p.s.will somebody please tell the republican candidatesthat they are lying about the US having "the best healthcare in the world"?i'am sure they don't know any better.

maisy smith,atlanta GA (Sent Saturday, January 05, 2008 10:32 PM)

Hello person approving these comments:
How about changing the title of the news article. Ron Paul is leading by 43% to 22% for Huckabee. Has the writer, Domenico Montanaro, gone home to sleep or was he asleep when he wrote the title. The math is grade 2 not quantum physics. Please correct. Thank you.

James D (Sent Saturday, January 05, 2008 10:53 PM)

Facebook chooses RON PAUL 43%.

B (Sent Saturday, January 05, 2008 10:58 PM)

Newsflash! MSNBC correspondents can't count higher than 22!

Tim Carter, Auburn WA (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 12:16 AM)

Facebook chooses RON PAUL (PS: I know this won't be approved but if it's a real human that reads this please laugh to yourself because you know I'm right).

Mark W (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 12:20 AM)

MSNBC is mathematically challenged. I guess the report went to public schools and somehow got left behind.

Nobody (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 12:32 AM)

You call yourself reliable media? If votes cast for Ron Paul prove to be out of proportion on the internet, you should either not reference it at all or report it correctly. It is completely unacceptable to mislead the public with such an outrageous title and you should be ashamed to have this trash posted on any MSNBC affiliated site.

Brandon Titus, Nashville, TN (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 1:57 AM)

Huckabee? Seriously??? A bit of research on this guy will show he shouldn't be president. The only one of these guys that has any real integrity is Ron Paul.

Jake Kingsworth (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 2:28 AM)

The reason Paul leads is simple: if you look at Techpresident.com it tracks the supporters of each candidate on the site and Ron Paul by far has the most Facebook supporters of any Republican candidate - he has 64,811, leading Huckabee's 30,802 and the rest of the crowd.

Paul's supporters are notoriously active and loyal online. Give em credit for that. But it obviously skews the results in things like this and does not represent a scientific sample by any means.

MikeknaJ, Orange County CA (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 2:30 AM)

Misleading MSNBC. You fail at reporting, now get of my internet and back on the television; this audience will not suffer you to pass. Be gone.

mike (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 2:39 AM)

Facebook chooses RON PAUL 43%.

Tom B, New York, New York (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 2:44 AM)

I am so furious on how poorly Ron Paul has been treated by every media outlet. The reason Ron Paul leads on the internet is because citizens who use the internet as a resource know their politics. People like my grandpa who this Obama is muslim or my aunt who think Iraqis attacked us are the same idiots who get their news from tv. Old media is dying NBC. This blatant disrespect for Ron Paul makes me excited that the internet generation is taking over.

Clark Crawford (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 2:59 AM)

Boycott MSNBC!!!

Edward Los Angeles California (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 2:59 AM)

msnbc. you really are the scum of the earth.
why mislead in your title?, your reader arn't idiots. especially when you've been 'dugg', and are being called out on your lies.

JOn Doe (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:16 AM)

Grade 2 Math people not even Algebra

43(Forty Three) is Greater than 22(Twenty Two)
43>22

Tuh Revolutionary (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:16 AM)

Ron Paul is clearly leading this poll, so reporting that Facebook "chooses" Huckabee is inaccurate, at best.

D (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:16 AM)

There's going to be a riot in Digg if you dont change it.

http://www.facebook.com/politics/

If you check now you can see that Ron Paul has twice the amount of votes than Huckabee.

Update this please!

Mr. T, San Francisco, CA (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:17 AM)

dugg! nice work msnbc!

john doe, seattle, wash (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:19 AM)

This is way misleading. If you want to exclude Dr. Paul at-least change the title to.

"FACEBOOK CHOOSES HUCKABEE OVER MCCAIN, SO FAR"

Zeph Leggett, Mobile, Alabama (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:20 AM)

Terrence, what good is defending your position when your position benefits only a certain amount of people and does the opposite to another group? I don't think that's a quality the new president should have.

Also, for some reason MSNBC is trying to spin the story to make it look like huckabee is beating paul in online polls. I don't know why they would.

Gabriel, (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:23 AM)

This is absurd. If MSNBC cannot deduce from this that Ron Paul is beating all other candidates then how can they be trusted to deliver us accuracy on complicated issues?

Brian, Madison, WI (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:24 AM)

Can your bias be any more transparent?

Look at your own numbers: Facebook chose Ron Paul, not Huckabee, as your headline says.

Chris Nelson (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:25 AM)

Hello, I don't care much about republican candidates but please, for moral sake and credibility, do not mislead the people by ignoring Ron Paul. He has twice the approval that Huckabee does.

DBA, MX (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:25 AM)

MSNBC cant count, last time i checked 43% was greater then 22%.

Peter Smith, New York City, New York (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:26 AM)

What ever happened to objective news reporting? Seriously, a great disappointment that a supposedly credible news provider would openly show so much bias against a very real presidential candidate. Your open disregard for the respect to the credibility of news media is disturbing at the least and hopefully isn't a sign of the continual decline in corporate news media.

Christopher, L.A., CA (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:27 AM)

What they meant to say is that of Huckabee is leading among candidates NBC would choose to cover, which when translated means: "A candidate suitable to GE, who owns NBC." Ron Paul is the last person in the world GE would want to see as President, hence the lack of coverage and dishonest reporting.

John N, Denver, CO (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:31 AM)

43 > 22

brendan, sacramento, ca (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:31 AM)

"huckabee moves into second in facebook poll"

Jon (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:32 AM)

Clearly, this is a typo.

Irvin McWhorter (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:33 AM)

Are people unaware of the fact that Huckabee got his son off of charges for hanging a dog??!!??!!??

http://www.newsweek.com/id/78241

Bobby, Harrisburg, PA (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:35 AM)

MSNBC has thrived by criticizing Fox news but it's doing exactly what they did during the 2000 elections. Someone email Olbermann and let him know that his network acts just like Bill O' Reilly.

Anonymous (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:40 AM)

To Tom D. (Indianapolis):

In the same way they would spam the ballot box?

America - it used to be a democracy.

David Bond, UK (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:40 AM)

As usual Ron Paul is being censored. Why can't you just say Ron Paul leading on facebook?

Lisa Spires Macon, Ga (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:41 AM)

Title of article is worthy of slaps in the face with wet mackerels for the publisher, editor, and writer.

To put it simply, it is flat out and out falsehood. (AKA: a lie, blatantly wrong, incorrect, possibly libelous, proof the writer failed math 10, from an alternate reality, a drug induced hallucination, etc.)

Ok, let's be nice. I don't care if you hate Ron Paul and think a snowball on the sun has better chances, but the data clearly indicates that Ron Paul won the poll. Huckabee beat Romney and McCain, but still had less than 1/2 (that's less than 50%) of Pauls score. If you are going to report on the results of a Poll, get your facts straight. For Gods Sake - That's what reporters are supposed to do! (Or at least fake it well enough that you won't get caught by anyone who looks at the article or source... )

ianal, imho, west coast (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:41 AM)

WOW! Someone doesn't know how to count! 43%>22%

Alex Dunlop, Charlotte, NC (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:42 AM)

If you're not going to admit that Paul has won this poll with 43%, you can't call this poll accurate. End of story.

Tom, Chicago, IL (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:45 AM)

Paul won. It says so right there. Why does it say Huckabee won? He didn't.

P (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:46 AM)

Domenico Montanaro and Andy Merten, you sirs should be ashamed of yourselves. Either for your blatant and obvious bias, or for your obvious lack of basic math skills.

Please, explain yourselves. What excuse do you have for abusing your position of power as journalists?

Kenneth Ellis (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:49 AM)

this is EXTREMELY disappointing...how the hell can you simply ignore ron paul. the media never gives him the attention he receives elsewhere, but this is just deceiving. i've lost all my respect for msnbc.

disappointed reader, new hampshire (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:49 AM)

This MSNBC report just in: "Petals are heavier than feathers in recent 'who's heaviest' poll"
Air
Leaf
Petal
Feather
Brick

I cant wait for their next bit of news. No wonder people no longer trust corporate media. Ron Paul FTW on facebook poll.

;p (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:50 AM)

43% > 22%

MSN is SMRT.

Josh (Sent Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:52 AM)

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