PHILADELPHIA — Even Democrats paid more attention to the GOP’s convention than they did to the first night of their own party’s shindig in Philadelphia, according to a professor who tracks reactions on Twitter.
Presumptive presidential nominee Hillary Clinton earned little in the way of “positive sentiment,” said Drew Margolin, a professor at Cornell University. She didn’t earn a lot of negative attention either, “but there was not a clear positive tendency.”
“Perhaps more troubling for Clinton, the Bernie insurgency was clearly visible. Bernie Sanders drew positive sentiment from the two groups that are identified for their resistance to Hillary: the ’Hillary Dumpers,’ who used to follow Hillary and now follow Sanders; and the ’Bernie Holdouts,’ people who started with and still follow Sanders,” the professor said.
“In addition, the Hillary Dumpers also used #BernieOrBust in 7 percent of their tweets, much more than #NeverTrump or #NeverHillary received on any night, including tonight,” he said in an analysis.
The level of attention the first night drew on Twitter was “substantially below” what the GOP drew on both its first night and last night of its convention last week. Even the Democratic groups Mr. Margolin tracks “paid more attention to the last night of the Republican National Convention than they did tonight,” he said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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