The big story in the political blogosphere this week (besides Rove’s resignation) is the Iowa Straw Poll. The results at first glance appear straightforward, but bloggers from both sides of the political fence are revealing multiple layers to the data, and vastly different conclusions as to who is actually the big winner.

Mitt Romney walked away with 32% of the vote, but he paid a hefty price. According to the Washington Post, the Romney campaign spent somewhere between $442 and $1000 per vote. Mike Huckabee seemingly came out of nowhere to claim second place in the poll, and he spent a mere $58 per vote. Third-place Sam Brownback spent around $148 per vote.

Many of the most popular political blogs are declaring Sam Brownback “the big winner.” He emerged from relative obscurity to second-place in this important (at least in the past) early poll, and he spent less money and manpower than the other candidates. Most bloggers conclude that how Brownback uses this brief moment in the spotlight will determine his future in this race. Some, though, reach a bit further, claiming the likelihood of a Gingrich-Brownback ticket in ’08.

It’s also important to keep in mind that Giuliani and McCain declined to participate in the poll, thus diminishing any claim of victory by any candidate. And Ron Paul’s Internet popularity did not translate into a major showing at the poll; however, his placement above Tommy Thompson was perhaps enough to embarrass the former Wisconsin governor into dropping out.

We looked at daily mentions of certain GOP candidates in Collective Intellect’s top-ranked political blogs, for each of the past four Mondays:

Mentions of Mike Huckabee and Tommy Thompson skyrocketed after the Iowa Straw Poll. It’s immediately obvious why Thompson dropped out. He was mentioned in the political blogosphere a grand total of 23 times over the past three Mondays. That three-day total tripled the day after he made his announcement. The writing was on the wall.

Huckabee’s rise is more interesting. His second-place finish was enough to triple his previous week’s mentions, making his percentage increase the most impressive. Romney was already a much-talked-about candidate in the political blogosphere, and his win in Iowa gave him only a slight push in volume.

New Media sentiment about Huckabee was slightly more positive than Romney in the days following the poll. However, Romney still gets much more blog coverage than Huckabee, and there’s still Giuliani and another Thompson to contend with. It remains to be seen whether Huckabee’s team will take the correct next steps to build on his sudden surge in New Media popularity. We’ll check back in the coming weeks.

Tags: Analyzing Consumer Generated Media, Mass Media/Culture, Public Relations //