Twitter has granted both comedians and politicians one of the most powerful resources in the world: a following. It is as valuable to Rob Delaney as it is for Mitt Romney -- more so, in some cases.
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Delaney has become a household name largely because of Twitter, and the support he's garnered from his followers. Earlier this year he was named "Funniest Person on Twitter" at the Comedy Awards.
Last year, he began tweeting satirically to Romney. The jokes, often silly and surreal, have since received thousands of retweets.
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@mittromney If you won’t release your tax returns, at least tell us what conditioner you use!!#sheen#lustre#body— rob delaney (@robdelaney) July 20, 2012
"Mitt Romney is just a very interesting character, and very attractive to me as a comedian," says Delaney, who admits he's tried (and failed) to limit his tweets.
In June, Bloomberg Businessweek reported, Delaney's tweets were the most often-retweeted mentions of Romney nearly half of the time -- beating even Romney himself. Even on days when Romney held the top spot, says social analyst firm VoterTide, Delaney's tweets were often second or third.
Delaney also parodies Obama, often retweeting made-up things that are similarly silly, yet less politically charged.
Really? RT
@barackobama: I hope they wound up catching that Blair Witch. That movie gave me the heebie jeebies big time.— rob delaney (@robdelaney) May 9, 2012
Some of his Obama tweets have been the most mentioned within a 24-hour period, though they haven't been as popular as his tweets to Mitt Romney.
Bloomberg BusinessWeek recently pegged Delaney as "Romney's nemisis," Delaney says that he feels good about it.
"I built my Twitter following from zero -- from the ground-up -- as somebody who wasn't in the public eye," says Delaney, who currently has more than 500,000 followers.
Romney tops Delaney by nearly 300,000 more followers, though he recently speculatedsaw a very unusual and suspect increase in activity within one weekend.
"My followers are an organic group of people," says Delaney. "So when those tweets are popular, it genuinely means that it has resonated with people. They either agree with the sentiment or think it's funny, or some combination of the two."
Though Delaney has his own psuedo-nemesis attacking him for the tweets, the comedian says that he will continue to tweet the presidential candidates.
This story originally published on Mashable here.