Herman Cain Catches His Second Big Wave

Last night's Republican debate at Dartmouth in New Hampshire was televised on Bloomberg TV (what channel is that?) and so was seen by almost no one. And it's been almost three weeks since the last debate on September 22.

So how has that played out on Facebook? It was Ron Paul who picked up the most followers through the three September debates. But the last three weeks belong to Herman Cain, who racked up a commanding number of new followers.

Candidate	Fri 9/23 Noon	Wed 10/12 Noon	Pickup
Herman Cain	181,117	261,454	80,337
Ron Paul	519,151	540,562	21,411
Mitt Romney	1,118,444	1,130,150	11,706
Gary Johnson	135,559	138,825	3,266
Newt Gingrich	148,855	151,767	2,912
Rick Perry	164,830	167,075	2,245
Jon Huntsman	18,527	20,094	1,567
Rick Santorum	28,448	29,906	1,458
Michele Bachmann	461,806	460,302	-1,504

This is the second big move for Herman Cain. He more than doubled his followers last spring and early summer. He looks to be on track to do that again this fall, which would propel him across the Biden Line, currently at 305,850. No candidate can be taken completely seriously until they have more Facebook followers than Joe Biden.

Mitt Romney's tortoise-like campaign is still inching forward in first place. If building a slow and steady followership can win the race, Mitt may still be first across the goal line.

Gary Johnson wasn't even in latest the debate, so everyone below him on the list must be regarded as dead in the water. He's just barely treading water along with Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, Jon Huntsman, and Rick Santorum. Michele Bachman, who swam out ahead of the pack earlier in the race has been leaking supporters since early September.