Commentary

Blogosphere Eyes Hillary Clinton's Last Stand

As the last two Democratic nominating contests approach, Sen. Hillary Clinton's online presence hasn't diminished.

As the last two Democratic nominating contests approach, Sen. Hillary Clinton's online presence hasn't diminished.Technorati shows Clinton with more blog mentions than any other candidates on the eve of Tuesday's primaries in South Dakota and Montana, with 3,698 mentions counted on Monday. That compares with 3,590 for Sen. Barack Obama and 1,478 for Sen. John McCain.

Clinton hasn't won the popularity contest on America's most popular social networking sites, but she's in second place for MySpace supporters and Facebook friends, according to figures from TechPresident. That puts her behind Obama but ahead of McCain.


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Not all of the attention is positive, however.

Plenty of sites, like RealClearPolitics, are speculating that Clinton will bow out this week.

And, a YouTube video of a Clinton supporter's tirade has become an overnight sensation. It has been viewed nearly 830,000 times and has drawn more than 11,000 comments in just over 48 hours. The Clinton supporter refers to Obama as an "indadequate black male," curses the Democrats, and vows: "I'm not going to shut my mouth anymore."

Less emotional points of view also are popular on other political Web sites, including JustHillary.com. New York Post Political Editor Gregg Birnbaum provides a one-stop shop for breaking news, commentary, photos, poll figures, delegate counts, quotes, and more from Clinton's supporters and detractors.

Web traffic on Birnbaum's site grew an estimated 10% to 15% since April. That's not as heavy as it had been in the first quarter of the year, "when it was still a real dogfight," he said.

The site's future hinges on Clinton's fate.

"As Hillary goes, so goes JustHillary.com," Birnbaum said. "After three years of chronicling her every move, I will suspend the site if she suspends or ends her campaign. The point of the site was always to put a magnifying glass on her during her run for the White House and that will no longer be necessary if she bows out."

There's a slim chance the site could get a second life -- if Obama gets the nomination and adds Clinton to his ticket.


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