Can Biden Win Facebook in 2016?
Yeah, you read that right.That’s 2016. Not 2012.
You’re probably asking yourself why we’re even talking about 2016 when we haven’t even gotten to the 2012 general election. But some in Washington D.C. are already hypothesizing about the Presidential election four years from now and Politico recently reported that some people are asking if Vice President Joe Biden could run. If he did try and go for it, how would he fare on social media?
The short answer? If how he does now is any indication, good. Currently Biden has more than 320,000 Facebook friends, more than any other Democratic name that is being mentioned for 2016. Most of that success is due to Biden’s boss, President Barack Obama, whose campaign runs Biden’s page.
That’s definitely the Vice President’s biggest social media asset: While most of the posts, videos and images posted are meant to boost Obama’s reelection chances, they also helps Biden’s own “brand” image. A prime example is a video posted late Sunday night of Biden talking on the phone to a young woman who had just enlisted. (Biden took the phone from the young woman’s mom in mid conversation and then started talking to the presumably surprised daughter.)
The viewer stats also proved Biden’s social media strength: In just four hours on a Sunday night the video had gained 865 “likes” on Facebook, had more than 50 comments and had been shared more than 30 times. It was unknown how many times the video had been watched, because the number of views had been frozen at 303, a common YouTube glitch when a video starts to take off.
Of course, Biden still has a long way to go to catch up to his boss on Facebook. During the same time period Sunday night, the same video of Biden had gained more than 11,000 “likes” on Obama’s Facebook page, more than 800 comments, and 600 shares. But as more people begin to pay attention to the 2012 race, and place their social media support behind Obama, Biden’s popularity will grow as well. Just this past weekend it appeared that Biden gained 1,000 new fans—which has been at times better than some GOP 2012 candidates.
Biden also has a strong following on Twitter, but it’s unclear whether the account @VP would stay with the office or the man. Getting his own Twitter account may be tough though, as the social media site has been flooded with Biden satire accounts, one of which describes itself as: “The man. The myth. The legend. A regular guy from Scranton, Vice President of the US, all-around ladies man and Amtrak Platinum Elite member Joe Biden.”
The account, @VeepJoeBiden, puts out some memorable posts, but it’s unlikely the White House would want to claim it.
“Quitting time at 1600. I’m already 5 beers in. Make that 5 and a 1/2. Text to Secret Service: “Will you be my DD? It’s St. Patty’s Day,” wrote the fake Vice President last week.
But what of the other potential 2016 candidates. Well they have a lot of work to do to catch up.
On the Democratic side, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo tops out with more than 88,000 “likes.” Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley has a respectable 39,000 “likes;” respectable because he has yet to really emerge onto the national state. One of the most popular Democrats, Hillary Clinton, who came in second for the nomination in 2008, is surprisingly weak on Facebook, considering she was campaigning for the White House just a few years ago. Her Secretary of State page has just over 24,000 “likes.”
On the Republican side things are a little stronger. Of course any of the candidates who ran in 2012—Rick Perry, Jon Huntsman and the rest—already have a bump in friends, much like Mitt Romney did coming into this election cycle. Leading off the possible Republicans who didn’t run though, are Sarah Palin with more than 3 million fans; Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal with 151,000 fans; Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan with more than 91,000; and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie with almost 57,000 “likes.”