Blogger endorsements matter

Well, my endorsement doesn't matter. Just endorsements by what Tom Wolfe would call the big swinging dicks of the blogosphere (BTW, don't google that phrase, at least at work), like this guy, these guys, this guy, or him.

Anyway, Rudy Guiliani is the big winner of Patrick Ruffini's August straw poll of GOP candidates, thanks in large part to blogger influence.

Blogger Endorsements = Votes: Pointy-headed critics of online polling will worry about all the commentary and endorsements attached to the poll links (this and this are notable examples). I don’t, because we now have a verifiable way to gauge the impact of endorsements and candidate appearances in various online forums. InstaPundit readers went emphatically Rudy-Rice after Glenn made clear his preferences – much more so than INDC Journal, which was more pro-Rudy (he endorsed) and less pro-Rice (he didn’t). Newt outright won the Right Wing News vote after giving an interview there. Lorie Byrd of PoliPundit was critical of George Allen and Rudy went from 26% last month to 36% (Allen fell from 53% to 29%). There’s a curiously large Mitt Romney following among Hugh Hewitt fans. Because overall 2008 interest is low right now, it’s not likely that readers are picking blogs based on who they support. Loosely committed readers are actually following the lead of their favorite blogs. Sure, voting in an online poll is an ephemeral act, but rinse, lather, and repeat, and this support will deepen. The most important thing to come out of this poll is that we now have a proof of concept which shows that candidates engaging the blogosphere and its key voices early in the process translates into votes.