April showers apparently bring more than May flowers, as this month has already brought three candidacy announcements for the hotly contested Republican Party presidential nomination.
Former HP CEO Carly Fiorina (May 4), former neurosurgeon Ben Carson (May 4) and former conservative darling Mike Huckabee (May 5) all announced their candidacies this month.
Fiorina received a huge bump in Twitter popularity following her announcement, leading the group of declared candidates in share of Twitter voice (SOV) so far in May.
She’s battling for top spot in May with Ted Cruz, who’s Twitter popularity has remained very strong despite declaring his nomination last month (he also received a bump in Twitter popularity at the end of the period after outcry over him being asked by Bloomberg’s managing editor to “prove he’s Cuban”).
And for a less-than-well-known personality, Ben Carson also received a substantial boost in popularity (ranking fourth overall in Twitter SOV for May).
But what about Mike Huckabee?
After declaring his candidacy on May 5, the day following Fiorina and Carson, the former Arkansas governor still ranks dead last among declared candidates in Twitter SOV.
As shown in the mentions over time chart, his bump in mentions during his announcement was less than half that of Fiorina (and was less than Carson’s, as well).
It’s a less-than-encouraging development for Huckabee, once considered a front-runner during 2011’s nomination battle before he withdrew his name from the race.
The tepid support for the evangelical candidate could also stem from recent controversies related to his endorsements of so-called “miracle cures” and dietary supplements, including “cures” for diabetes involving the eating of cinnamon.
Now, it seems, Huckabee may be 2011’s news.
