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    During debate, Ron Paul’s quotes percolated most on Twitter: A Signal analysis

    For all the comedians on Twitter, one of the most popular social media pastimes during GOP debates is to simply to retweet the candidates, so to speak, by posting their best quotes. When Newt Gingrich quipped that "I am inclined to believe dictators. It is dangerous not to," thousands of people tweeted the quote, often without any added commentary.

    To measure which quotes resonated the most on Twitter, we analyzed more than 170,000 tweets sent during the event. In addition to identifying highly retweeted candidate quotes, we test drove our beta "sentiment score" algorithms under development at Yahoo! Labs to identify positive and negative tweets mentioning candidates' names. Mixed positive and negative tweets are indicative of "controversies." Here's what we found:

    Ron Paul, a known favorite among social media mavens on all platforms, was the most retweeted speaker of the night. Twitter reacted strongly when he talked about birth control pills: "Guns don't kill, criminals kill," he said. Ergo, birth control pills "can't be blamed for the immorality of our society." The reaction to this statement scored highly on our controversy score, as supporting tweets were accompanied by the tweets of users who hastily disapproved.

    However, Paul found most favor with Twitter users for his "Planned Parenthood should get nothing" remark, his most retweeted quote and one followed by a spike in positive sentiment.

    As mentioned, Newt Gingrich's most retweeted quote was: "I am inclined to believe dictators. It is dangerous not to," which he unleashed during his discussion of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The reaction on Twitter was not favorable — according to our sentiment model, Gingrich reached his highest negative sentiment peak in second half of the debate right after this remark.

    The reaction to Mitt Romney suggested he should show more of his lighter side, which heavy retweeting of "Like George Costanza said, when they are applauding, stop." He also got attention for his final talking point, telling the moderators that "You get to ask the questions you want, I get to give the answers I want." Unlike the Seinfeld reference, which is followed by a positive sentiment increase, this quote is shortly followed by one of the two highest negative sentiment spikes registered for Romney. The other spike (close in magnitude) occurred  during an exchange on "Romney care."

    Finally, Rick Santorum's most retweeted remarks dealt with education, when he explained his reasoning for having supported the educational reform bill known as No Child Left Behind. When the audience booed, he commented: "Politics is a team sport folks." He then added: "I'm a home-schooling father of seven, I know the importance of customized education."

    RANKED TOP QUOTES

    Ron Paul: "Planned Parenthood should get nothing"

    Ron Paul: "The [birth control] pills can't be blamed for the immorality of our society"

    Newt Gingrich: "I am inclined to believe dictators"

    Mitt Romney: "You get to ask the questions you want, I get to give the answers I want".

    Ron Paul: "Guns don't kill, criminals kill"

    Rick Santorum: "Politics is a team sport folks!"

    Credits: Raw closed caption data — IntoNow (Yahoo), Ajay Shekhawat (Yahoo Labs), Ajeet Grewal (Yahoo Content Science team)

     
    • itiswhatitis  •  3 mths ago
      Paul: Now, if they are so determined to go to war, the only thing I plead with you for, if this is the case, is do it properly. Ask the people and ask the Congress for a declaration of war. This is war and people are going to die. And you have got to get a declaration of war.
      • Randyman 3 mths ago
        It is funny (not literally) that after WWII, the presidents have all violated the Constitution and their oath of office. Why do we put them up on such a pedestal?
      • Lobo 3 mths ago
        The reason they can't get a declaration of war is because it connot be morally justified.
      • truth 3 mths ago
        This war & other illegal wars we participated in are based on NO evidence.
    • pops  •  3 mths ago
      The very fact that the corporate owned media and lobbyist captured party brass pretend he's invisible should be all the reason you need to support Ron Paul.
      If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you always got.
      Ron Paul....for a return to governmental sanity.
    • SSSSSS  •  Newark, New Jersey  •  3 mths ago
      Ron Paul's voting record......
      He has never voted to raise taxes.
      He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
      He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
      He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
      He has never taken a government-paid junket.
      He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.

      He voted against the Patriot Act.
      He voted against regulating the Internet.
      He voted against the Iraq war.

      He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
      He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.

      Ron Paul for President in 2012 and restore our Constitution!!!
      • Jason 3 mths ago
        You sir are a hero. Facts and quotes are exactly what is required.
      • tony 3 mths ago
        I have been posting that exact outline for some time. Thank you for giving me a hand..Jason is right, facts are what is needed. I have challenged naysayers a thousand times to provide facts to back up their assertions, but to date have not got even one single rebuttal... Pointing a finger and repeating what a script says to say is easy... But it is almost criminal in nature. If you would mislead your own countrymen for profit, what kind of person must you be ?
      • Zhen Zhong 2 mths ago
        Unfortunately, almost all politicians are onto fact-free speech! I am all for fat-free diet, but fact-free nonsense speech doesn't even a human-being made, let alone a leader responsible to run a nation.
    • homeinLA  •  Los Angeles, California  •  3 mths ago
      If everyone who tweets Ron Paul would vote for him this thing would've been over by now.
      • Don in Dallas 3 mths ago
        It is over !... tweets don't count. Lot of chit chat going on but nobody is gitting off the couch !
      • bigdog 3 mths ago
        Diebolt...election fraud!!! We haven't had an honest election in decades!
      • Life 3 mths ago
        Unfortunately, not everyone eligible to vote can vote. Nevertheless, if you can't vote, you can counter this by convincing at least 1 person able to vote to vote for Ron Paul.
    • Looking for Truth  •  3 mths ago
      RON PAUL. The only choice not approved by the international bankers...also, he's not a lawyer...Thumbs up for freedom and no more wars. Thumbs down if you like more war and more sucking sounds from the Federal Reserve.
      • Rico 3 mths ago
        Ha, nice!!
      • M9 3 mths ago
        I hope you ROn aul bots vote for Romeny when he is Romneys running mate
      • Overdose 3 mths ago
        ROn aul?
    • blake  •  3 mths ago
      RON PAUL WALKS THE WALK,and TALKS THE TRUTH....no he said she said junk from RON PAULS MOUTH JUST FACTS ON HOW THE DEAL WITH OUR PROBLEMS
      • Kevin 3 mths ago
        Any truth to the rumor that Ron Paul is running interference for Mitt Romney in order to secure Rand is chosen as Mitt's veep?
      • Jeremy 3 mths ago
        Consistent!
      • Sherry 3 mths ago
        No, Kevin, just more #$%$ propaganda.
    • Fed up with political cor ...  •  3 mths ago
      Ron Paul...2012...
      End war-for profit, Secure the border, Bring the troops home, Stop being the world's policemen.
    • itiswhatitis  •  3 mths ago
      Gingrich: But I want to go a step further, because this makes a point that Ron Paul has been making for a generation and that people need to take very seriously.

      When you have government as the central provider of services, you inevitably move towards tyranny, because the government has the power of force.
    • Kevin G  •  3 mths ago
      Why dont people understand that if the general public hates politicians, and the same politicians they hate are afraid of Ron Paul, that Ron Paul is obviously the right choice?
    • A Yahoo! User  •  Seattle, Washington  •  3 mths ago
      Rick voted against raising the minimum wage 8 times. But he did vote to allow his own pay to be raised by $8000.
    • Keith Cote  •  3 mths ago
      Ron Paul2012 Let us give our children a chance!!
    • Woa  •  3 mths ago
      Ron Paul! The guy at least doesn't spew rhetoric...I believe that he believes what he says.
    • BmanZinko  •  Dayton, Ohio  •  3 mths ago
      Well he is 2nd in delegates.
    • History Builder  •  Hattiesburg, Mississippi  •  3 mths ago
      I'll vote for Ron Paul, but if the organized GOP Republican Party puts their orthodox usual hand picked committee chosen McCain, or Bob Dole, (Gingrich, Romney, Santorim) over Ron Paul let us have Obama. He's as likely to make the failed decisions as any of these will do through this perverted tainted Republican nomination system who is looking for a man that will not lead but do as he is told of him. We need a true Leader for the Republican Party. Foreign Policy: Obama if he get's the win will do the same as all of the others will have to do in this clear and present dangerous world. Make the best possible decision.
    • Fed up with political cor ...  •  3 mths ago
      Funny...According to the bought off media, there is no Ron Paul running for president....
    • who  •  San Antonio, Texas  •  3 mths ago
      after reading about the under the table loan to banks, 13 billion, from the feds........i agree with Ron Paul get rid of the feds...........they took the interest free loans and bought notes, treasury notes, and made money off the interest...........#$%$...did not make loans...........lined their own pockets.........we need to stop this.....bypassed congress........what is going on.
    • Logan  •  Seattle, Washington  •  3 mths ago
      I will cast my vote for Ron Paul. ..and I won't be holding my nose when I do it.
    • A Yahoo! User  •  Orlando, Florida  •  3 mths ago
      I think i'll vote for Ron Paul
      1. There would be no Fed and we would have sound money.
      2. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would have been dismantled.
      3. The big three rating agencies (Moody's, Fitch, and S&P) would not be officially government recognized and rating agencies in general  would have been paid on the basis of how well they do their job, not on volume generated by being "officially recognized".
      4. There would have been no housing bubble (or one much smaller).
      5. Ron Paul certainly would not have signed the Medicare bill Bush signed or the Healthcare bill Obama signed..
      6. The US would not have wasted over a trillion dollars in Iraq.
      7. The US would not have had troops stationed in Saudi Arabia and since that was Bin Laden's biggest gripe, there may not have been a 911 attack in the first place.
      8. Davis Bacon and prevailing wage laws would have been scrapped lowering costs to cities and states to provide services. 
      9. Cities and states would not be in such bad financial position.
      10. Ron Paul would have ended collective bargaining of public unions 
      11. The public union pension crisis would not be as big.
      12. We would actually have smaller government instead of lip service from other Republicans on providing smaller government
      13. People would have lower taxes and more of their own money to spend.
      14. The insane war on drugs would be over and our prisons would not be overflowing at enormous expense to taxpayers
      15. The US would be defending its borders instead of being the world's policeman 
      I can go on and on.  It's amazing how much attention has been focused on things Ron Paul did not even say, instead of things he has consistently stood for. He is the only Republican candidate (actually the only candidate from any party) that has a high level of consistency on critical issues.
    • Johnny  •  3 mths ago
      Rock on Ron Paul. Otherwise its President Obama second term by landslide. Mark my words peeps. Im taking bets !
    • Fred  •  3 mths ago
      The Founding Fathers would be proud of Ron Paul 2012!

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