Closer scrutiny of data from the social network Twitter would have helped to diagnose and predict the rise of the two outsider candidates in the 2016 presidential election, businessman Donald Trump and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, according to a new Public Echoes Of Rhetoric In America (PEORIA) Project report.

1. Graduate School of Political Management
The PEORIA Project
May 2016 Update
#WeCouldHaveSeenThemComing
Trump, Sanders, and the undervalued metrics
of Twitter followers and engagement

2. Graduate School of Political Management
The PEORIA Project
May 2016 Update
Table of Contents
• Introduction: Two Puzzles
• Findings
1. A Twitter following is a campaign asset from day one
2. Growth rates in Twitter followings provide actionable evidence of
campaign strength and weakness
3. Engagement metrics, especially retweets, provide a second dimension
of campaign intelligence apart from follower metrics
4. The potential power of Twitter lives on past the end of campaigns.
5. A hashtag is not the equivalent to a following or engagement activities.
• Conclusion
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3. Graduate School of Political Management
The PEORIA Project
May 2016 Update
Key Takeaways
• Twitter followers were an early asset for both presumptive nominees,
providing lessons for future candidates and observers.
• Donald Trump’s opening lead in Twitter followers previewed his quick
rise in the polls over the Jeb Bush and the field.
• Bernie Sanders’ edge in engagement helped narrow the gap with
Hillary Clinton.
• The number of followers continues to grow after campaigns
suspend, foreshadowing potential strength in future races.
• Hashtags are moments, not campaigns.
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4. Graduate School of Political Management
The PEORIA Project
May 2016 Update
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Two Puzzles
How did Trump win?
How did Sanders get so close?
0
2,000,000
4,000,000
6,000,000
8,000,000
10,000,000
3/23/15
4/23/15
5/23/15
6/23/15
7/23/15
8/23/15
9/23/15
10/23/15
11/23/15
12/23/15
1/23/16
2/23/16
3/23/16
4/23/16
Cruz Clinton
Rubio Carson
Sanders Bush
Trump Kasich
Linear (Clinton) Linear (Sanders)
Linear (Trump)
• Trump announced on June 16, one day after Jeb Bush, who led the field with only 10.8% while Trump was a non-factor. By July 20,
Trump had taken a small lead over Bush (16.8% to 14.8%), which he held except for three days in November when he was tied with
Ben Carson.
• Though never overtaking Clinton, Sanders narrowed the gap to within 1% on April 13 before it began to widen again after the
Brooklyn debate the next night.

5. Graduate School of Political Management
The PEORIA Project
May 2016 Update
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• Clinton’s early lead in followers,
which she maintained through
the Indiana primary, is not
reflected in the polling.
• Though never overtaking
Clinton, Sanders narrowed the
gap to within 1% on April 13
before it began to widen again
after the Brooklyn debate the
next night.
• Growth in Twitter followers
alone, therefore, is not sufficient
to explain the narrowing race
between Clinton and Sanders.
A Narrowing Race
Democratic Nomination Polling Averages:
Candidate Announcements – Indiana
Primaries

6. Graduate School of Political Management
The PEORIA Project
May 2016 Update
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• Both Clinton and Trump had significant early advantages over
their respective fields, leading to higher name ID and potential
support.
• Bernie Sanders opened with little more than half the followers
of John Kasich but vaulted to third overall during the campaign.
Opening Followers
From Candidate Announcements
NAME ANNOUNCEMENT FOLLOWERS THAT DAY
Ted Cruz 3/23/15 371,742
Hillary Clinton 4/12/15 3,208,701
Marco Rubio 4/13/15 706,910
Ben Carson 5/4/15 330,441
Bernie Sanders 5/26/15 41,732
Jeb Bush 6/15/15 198,340
Donald Trump 6/16/15 2,997,242
John Kasich 7/21/15 75,445

7. Graduate School of Political Management
The PEORIA Project
May 2016 Update
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• From the beginning of their
campaigns, both Clinton and
Trump had millions more
followers than other candidates,
an indication of early strength
that foretold the challenge rivals
faced.
• While both were well-known,
Trump began the campaign well
behind Clinton in followers but
passed her in mid-October,
growing at a much faster rate.
• The only other candidate to
become a threat to this
dominance was Sanders but he
grew at the same rate as Clinton,
never able to close the gap.
Cruz and Kasich never gained
more followers than Carson and
Rubio.
Valuable Asset
Twitter Follower Growth:
Candidate Announcements – Indiana
Primaries
0
1,000,000
2,000,000
3,000,000
4,000,000
5,000,000
6,000,000
7,000,000
8,000,000
9,000,000
Cruz Clinton Rubio
Carson Sanders Bush
Trump Kasich Linear (Clinton)
Linear (Sanders) Linear (Trump)

8. Graduate School of Political Management
The PEORIA Project
May 2016 Update
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• Trump dominated his rivals in total
engagement, defined by Crimson
Hexagon as a combination of retweets,
replies and mentions.
• Clinton and Sanders were closer in
terms of total engagement, which
varied on who was ahead during the
campaign.
Highly Engaged
Total Engagement Share:
Candidate Announcements – Indiana
Primaries
73%
15%
5%
3% 2%2%
Republicans
38.5 trillion potential impressions
Trump Cruz Rubio Carson Bush Kasich
61%
39%
Democrats
21.4 trillion potential impressions
Clinton Sanders

9. Graduate School of Political Management
The PEORIA Project
May 2016 Update
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• One possible reason for the of
polls is the stronger echo of
Sanders’s messaging on Twitter.
Retweets are copies of what a
candidate’s account posted,
which can be viewed as a
measure of engagement or
enthusiasm.
• Sanders consistently
outperformed Clinton on
retweets, which are copies of
what a candidate’s account
posted. It is the clearest
measure of candidate
engagement on the platform – a
direct echo.
• Moreover, Sanders earned more
peaks in retweets than Clinton,
suggesting he was able to
negate his followers deficit with
more engagement and
enthusiasm, perhaps narrowing
Powerful Echoes
Number of Twitter Retweets:
Candidate Announcements – Indiana
Primaries
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
140000
160000
180000
Cruz Clinton Rubio Carson
Sanders Bush Trump Kasich

10. Graduate School of Political Management
The PEORIA Project
May 2016 Update
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Staying Power
Suspensions, Followers, and Engagement:
Candidate Announcements – Indiana
Primaries
0
200,000
400,000
600,000
800,000
1,000,000
1,200,000
1,400,000
1,600,000
3/23/15 4/23/15 5/23/15 6/23/15 7/23/15 8/23/15 9/23/15 10/23/15 11/23/15 12/23/15 1/23/16 2/23/16 3/23/16 4/23/16
Twitter Follower Growth - Suspended Camapigns
Candidate Announcements - Indiana Primaries
Rubio Carson Bush
0
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000
3/23/15 4/23/15 5/23/15 6/23/15 7/23/15 8/23/15 9/23/15 10/23/15 11/23/15 12/23/15 1/23/16 2/23/16 3/23/16 4/23/16
Total Engagementon Twitter - Suspended Campaigns
Candidate Announcements - Indiana Primaries
Rubio Carson Bush
• Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, and Jeb Bush gained followers after suspending their campaigns.
• While suspended campaigns lose total engagement (retweets + mentions + replies), we believe
followers could reactivate it with a new candidacy.

11. Graduate School of Political Management
The PEORIA Project
May 2016 Update
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• Donald Trump’s run to the
nomination was widely
underestimated by other candidates,
observers, and many voters. The
strongest effort to stop him was
reflected in the #NeverTrump Twitter
hashtag, but it was too late.
• Reaction to Trump’s victory in the
South Carolina primary and the
Michigan debate helped fuel the
#NeverTrump hashtag which was
included in well over 500k posts.
• The #NeverTrump hashtag never
became a campaign due to lack of a
candidate to own it; it had one more
moment at the end of the campaign
with 141,659 posts on the day of the
Indiana primary, a last gasp.
Hashtags ≠ Campaigns
The Cautionary Tale of #NeverTrump

12. Graduate School of Political Management
The PEORIA Project
May 2016 Update
Recommendations
• Never underestimate an opponent’s Twitter followers.
They should be viewed in terms of name identification and potential
audience.
• Engaging followers can help drive public support.
While the number of followers matters, high engagement can narrow a
gap in polls.
• Twitter can be an asset for future candidacies.
Even post-suspension, presidential candidate accounts still gain
followers while engagement goes dormant.
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13. Graduate School of Political Management
The PEORIA Project
May 2016 Update
Future Research
• Impact of partisan engagement: Not all followers are supporters and
not all retweets, replies, and mentions are endorsements. We will
conduct further analysis on the partisan leanings of followers and tweets
to determine if the mix is related to polling movement.
• Analysis of Twitter content: While volume matters, what is said may
matter even more. We will be looking at which words and phrases
drove the conversation on Twitter with an eye to recall, echoing, and
campaign impact.
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14. Graduate School of Political Management
The PEORIA Project
May 2016 Update
Contact
Michael D. Cohen, Ph.D., PEORIA Project Chief Data Scientist
michaeldcohen@gwu.edu | 202.579.9094 | @MichaelCohen
Michael B. Cornfield, Ph.D., PEORIA Project Director
corn@gwu.edu | 202.994.9598 | @MBCornfield
Lara M. Brown, Ph.D., Political Management Program Director
larambrown@gwu.edu | 202.994.4545 | @LaraMBrown
Crimson Hexagon, Social Media Data Partner
info@crimsonhexagon.com | 617.547.1072 | @CrimsonHexagon
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