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Digital support for Liberal leadership candidates could play important role

By: The Canadian Press

Saturday, Mar. 2, 2013 at 3:11 AM | Comments: 0

OTTAWA - The deadline for Liberal leadership hopefuls to sign up new supporters for the party — and their candidacies — is Sunday.

But while each of the eight candidates will rely on their new recruits come ballot time, there is also the digital support base they've been building over the last few months in the form of their following on social media.

While Justin Trudeau has the most followers on Twitter, many who follow him also keep track of Martha Hall Findlay and Marc Garneau at the same time.

Meanwhile, Joyce Murray has the largest number of apparently fake followers, while David Bertschi's appear to be the most engaged.

But none came claim the kind of fame belonging to Marc Garneau — his fellow astronaut Chris Hadfield sent him a Happy Birthday tweet from space.

Digital public affairs analyst Mark Blevis says while Twitter followers don't automatically translate into votes, the presence of all contenders online is good for the Liberal brand going forward.

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