July 09, 2003
MIRROR, MIRROR, ON THE WALL, WHO'S THE NET SAVVIEST OF THEM ALL?....Chris Mooney points
to today's Lycos 50 column, which is all about the Democratic
presidential candidates and asks the question, who's the most popular on
the internet these days? Why, Howard Dean, of course! How popular on the Internet is Dean these days? More popular than Madonna, Dr. Phil, or Alyssa Milano.
Hmmm, is that the best they could do? I mean, at least I've heard of Madonna and Dr. Phil, but who's Alyssa Milano?
Anyway, it's no surprise that Dean has "left his competition in the
dust when it comes to online popularity," since he's the only one of the
bunch who's really using the internet much at all. But the list also
reminds me of what a tiny crowd we news junkies are: Dean may lead the
presidential wannabe pack, but he doesn't even register in the overall
Lycos Top 50, ranking behind Neopets, Metallica, FAFSA, and other pop
culture icons. At this point, there really aren't very many people who
care about anybody who's running for president.
The column doesn't give exact rankings for each of the contenders, but here's the list in order of internet popularity: 1. Gov. Howard Dean
2. Sen. John Kerry
3. Gen. Wesley Clark
4. Sen. John Edwards
5. Rep. Dennis Kucinich
6. Sen. Bob Graham
7. Rev. Al Sharpton
8. Sen. Joe Lieberman
9. Rep. Dick Gephardt
10. Sen. Carol Mosley Braun
Posted by Kevin Drum at July 9, 2003 09:25 AM
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Kevin-
It's probably a good thing that you don't know who Alyssa Milano is,
because when she first became famous, you could have gone to jail for
thinking she was attractive. For people MY age, on the other hand, since
she's all growed up...mee-OW.
(she was the daughter on Who's The Boss in the 80's)
um...kevin, you don't know who alyssa milano is? who's the boss?
charmed? the crazy leather-clad svelte figure in those 1800-collect ads?
the girl (woman) who most guys i know between 25 - 35 have had a
secret 'thing' for since pre-puberty? i bet there are a TON of fan
sites out there.
although i agree, perhaps they could've used some more substantive personalities for purposes of comparison.
Ya don't know Alyssa Milano?
Watch "Charmed". It's got lots of cleavage. And boobs. And more
cleavage. With some boobs. And it's apparently a TV show, too. Did I
mention boobs?
Looking at the list of Democratic candidates, they all seem bunched
in obscurity even now. The press needed something to write about, and
Dean apparently did a telethon-type on-line fundraiser just before the
Moveon.org vote, so at the moment he is on top. Unless he has some
Clintonesque qualities I haven't seen yet, he won't stay on top very
long.
Dean is also the unknown governor of an unknown state (well, at least
to us Texans. North of New York there is Boston, Murder-She-Wrote
country, and Canada, and Canadians generally ignore our President. Sort
of like Episcopalians and the Pope.)
So far I would like to see John Edwards with Wesley Clark as his running
mate, but I would take anyone on the list who I thought could win.
OK, OK, I've never watched Who's the Boss or Charmed. Guess I'm just an old fogey, but we knew that already....
so let's see, dean, who has the biggest internet presence, is best rated by internet people.
wonder how that'll translate in the real world if dean has the biggest real world presence....
if the substance is there, the flesh will follow, no?
(and for the record, i imagine kevin is being sarcastic. furthermore,
a girl down the street from me when i was in high school looked just
like alyssa. wow. memories...)
oops...guess not on sarcasm.
"unknown governor of an unknown state"
[Flashing back to 1991...]
When one does a Google Fight! the results are very different:
1. John Edwards (1 780 000)
2. John Kerry (856 000)
3. Wesley Clark (427 000)
4. Howard Dean (283 000)
And also, I am unconsolable you pretend not to know Alyssa Milano. You never visited Internet?
Adri Overgaauw
Rotterdam (NL)
What is a "Google Fight!"? Do we get it in America? And if we don't, can we convince anyone to care about it?
Alyssa Milano is so overrated. I don't find her attractive at all.
I've always been mystified by the cult of personality around her.
But on to less-substantive matters: am I the only one who thinks that
"most popular on the internet" is not an award that keeps the Roves of
the world awake at night?
Kevin: claiming you're an old fogey to explain how you don't know
Alyssa Milano is would be like pulling that same excuse with the Olsen
Twins. You were around in the 1980s and may have even seen a sitcom or
two.
The only reason John Edwards scores so high is that he's easily confused with the "psychic" that "talks to dead people".
FYI, Calpundit is rated #8 in average daily traffic by The Truth Laid
Bear today. Which is higher than the Howard Dean 2004 weblog, which
comes in at #11. Congratulations, Kevin D.!
Also, FAFSA is Free Application for Federal Student Aid. I'm not
sure it counts as a Pop Icon. But, it does show that a lot of people
wait till the last minute to file for college financial aid.
Phil: I just never saw Who's the Boss, that's all.
As for the Olsen twins, they're the offspring of Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen, right?
She's also the leather-clad minx on the 1800COLLECT commercials (but is not carrottop).
OK. Anybody who doesn't know who Alyssa Milano is obviously is far
too elderly to be on the Internet! Will the proper authorities please
confiscate Mr. Drum's modem?
Eh, Al, did you say something? My hearing's not so good these days....
Strange - I didn't consider the Phoebe character on charmed
interesting enough to find out her real name. Now Holly Marie Combs,
that is another matter.
I still think Lexa Doig is the prettiest and most interesting woman on the various TV shows, however.
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