The Twit Off and the Biz Times Poll

As most readers will already know, we have been bringing you our award winning coverage that we have dubbed the Twit Off. The original idea was to track how Mark Neumann and Scott Walker compared in their numbers of followers for the Twitter accounts. We even went so far as to measure the machismo of their Twitter feeds. Now we have a new installment of the Twit Off: the Biz Times Edition.

After Governor Doyle formally announced that he was not going to run for reelection, the folks at the Biz Times ran an online poll asking who people supported for governor. Today Steve Jagler points out the very interesting online activity that played itself out as their poll remained open. Here is his description of the events:

By the afternoon, the groundcampaigns of Walker and Neumann had seized the poll.
Walker opened up an early lead with 50 percent of the votes, followed by Neumann
with 40 percent. Later Tuesday evening, some of Neumann's supporters mounted a
Twitter campaign to rock the poll. They did just that, and Neumann opened a
commanding 56 to 40 lead over Walker. Walker's supporters did not let that surge
go unanswered. By Tuesday evening, Walker had rebounded to take a
50 to 46 lead. However, Neumann's supporters fired the final volley, claiming a 52 to 45 lead as the poll closed Wednesday morning. By the time the poll was done,
more than 5,350 votes had been cast. To give you an idea of the fervor of
that particular poll, consider that most of the daily polls at BizTimes.com
attract only a few hundred votes.

In case you are wondering, the most current raw numbers in the Twit Off are as follows:

Mark Neumann: 2,361 Twitter followers

Neumann Campaign Staff: 924 Twitter followers

Scott Walker: 2,649 Twitter followers

So who is in the overall lead? Obviously it depends on how you count them (do you include Neumann's campaign staff?). Even if you consider Walker to be in the lead in raw Twitter numbers, the Biz Times poll shows that he has failed the online action chapter in the Twit Off. I fully agree with Jagler's eventual conclusion, "it is going to be an intense and expensive primary." And that gives us all the more reason to continue bringing you our award winning coverage of the right wing Twit Off.