Does “survival of the
fittest” apply to politics? Apparently so as we are slowly seeing GOP
presidential candidates withdrawing from contending in the 2012
election. With Michele Bachmann ceasing her pursuit of the Oval Office
on January 4 and Jon Huntsman Jr.’s speech on January 16 which announced
the end of his journey to the White House, we are getting closer to
finding out who the Republican candidate for president will be and who
will win this battle fought in the social media realm.
It was reported on the SCTimes.com that Michele Bachmann had 6,000 supporter cards filled out with people who wanted to give their time and/or money to invest in her candidacy. Eight weeks later the information was still sitting on a shelf indicating to her donors that their time and money was not needed or appreciated. This incident along with a campaign team who had two separate political strategies were the beginning of the end of this fateful path for Bachmann. Furthermore, poor financial choices, embarrassing mix-ups in her speeches and a declining reputation hindered her chances for office.
So why did Huntsman leave the race? According to the Deseret News, Huntsman ran out of money and couldn’t pay for commercial time or direct mailings, even with investing over $2 million of his own money into his campaign. Besides his low numbers in political fundraising, he also seemed to be rather unknown compared to his other GOP competitors.
Will the final Republican hopefuls learn from their peer’s mistakes? Who will scoop up the supporters from the fallout: Romney, Paul, Santorum, Perry or Gingrich? In this new world of politics that vies for donor support online, we’ll have to see who can adapt to technology while still maintaining a strong television presence and a balance of compromised beliefs and integrity.
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