If we could collect all of the tweets about #elxn41, what would the sum total of those conversations look like? Well, today it looks like this.

So what is this? It’s a word cloud. For those in the digital media monitoring know, it’s the most visually compelling way to communicate which topics are most prevalence within a large sample of data, like say a full day of tweets with a hashtag like #elxn41.

For those new to word cloud world, word clouds are graphical representations of word frequency. They create an image of the most common words found within the data set. The more frequently the word is mentioned, the larger and more central it appears in the cloud. Capishe?

So now that we know what it is, what is this word cloud telling us? That the hashtags #elxn41 and #cdnpoli and RT (ReTweet) have the most mentions. That makes sense as #elxn41 was my search term and #cndpoli and RTs are attached to most of the tweets related to the election. That takes care of the biggest mentions but what else is going on?

Let’s see…bit.ly is a basic URL shortner most who tweet use to shorten URL links to max out their message within their 140 character limit. Harper is leader of the Conservative Party, Ignatieff is leader of the Liberal Party and both are considered the front-runners of this election, so naturally they’re quite large. What would be really interesting to see would be if you measured the difference between the size of their names in the cloud, converted the difference in size to a percentage then compared that to polling data. Would it be the same as the gap in polling numbers? Maybe I’ll try that tomorrow.

Now we’re down to a few-mid level references. Let’s go for the top three trending today. We’ll begin with Bruce Carson who’s caused a bit of scandal for Harper, a student who was kicked out of a Tory rally for having a picture of herself with Mr. Ignatieff on her facebook page and, oddly enough, there’s a rather large conversation thread about who originally came up with the #elxn41 hashtag. While she maintains it was a group effort, consensus is we can thank @kady for this one.

Now that I’ve broken it down, you can see that the cloud communicates the frequency of topic coverage but it doesn’t communicate whether or not the message about that topic is positive or negative. While Harper has a larger presence in this word cloud, the messages associated with him today would be on the stormy side.

I’ll be posting these daily so let’s see what tomorrow brings, shall we?

Well, it’s happening (at least the latter). Organizations are starting to experiment with the idea of invading the digital privacy of would-be employees — in the case of the B.C. NDP party, leadership candidates. The party is apparently planning an exhaustive risk assessment of people who are committed to their cause.

This is the kind of slippery slope that, if taken, will marginalize political parties and will discourage some of the best candidates; not because of a photo, video or blog post (all of which can be found in plain view online) but because none of the good candidates are likely to endorse big brother tactics. Not without risking the suggestion they endorse that approach.

The people most successful with social media, mix their personal and professional lives into something of a personal brand. They know how to communicate and engage, even galvanize, their public using a personal digital account. They may have even gained some experience navigating the sometimes-stormy seas of social media.

Politicians — well, all of us — have been making public mistakes without Facebook since the dawn of civilization. The true sign of a leader isn’t his or her freedom from life experiences, but their ability to lead through any situation no matter how bad and still galvanize the support of their community.

Besides, it’s more likely your missteps will be captured and shared by someone else.

I spoke about this very topic with Dan Matheson on CTV’s Power Play earlier this evening. Click here to see the video.

But, do you actually need a website?

As much as I’d hate to admit it, you don’t. At least, that’s what 12 of the current 305 sitting MPs would suggest–14 if you include those whose websites have been broken or “down for maintenance” for extended periods. And, for the digital communication purists (myself among them) who insist a website isn’t complete without a vanity domain name and search engine optimization to make it easy to find a politician’s point of view, 18 MPs are doing just fine, thank you very much, with a personalized (largely hidden) page within their party’s website.

There’s a trade-off, of course. Most of these politicians aren’t able to easily share their messages, opinions or connect with constituents in a timely manner.

These are among the curious pieces digital information I’m pulling together for the long awaited follow-up to last year’s House of Tweets report. The new edition is going to be titled Peace, Order and Googleable Government, and it will look at the digital culture within the House of Commons. I plan to include some stories about the role of digital channels in Canadian politics. Feel free to share some of your own if you feel they should be considered for the report.

Here’s the good news. Twitter isn’t likely to sway the ballot. Not unless a juicy and damning story is leaked and (more importantly) noticed on Twitter. Campaigning through the social network itself won’t convert enough voters overall to influence which party will become government. It’s possible Twitter may play a more significant role in some of the more digitally engaged constituencies.

The reality is the percentage of Canadians on Twitter remains fairly small. An even smaller number are actively engaged in online conversations. Politicians with the largest number of followers are likely to discover a majority of their following isn’t eligible to vote for them.

Does that mean candidates should dismiss the service? Absolutely not. And there are two very good reasons (among others). First, journalists are on Twitter and they follow what’s going on and being said to inform and even inspire stories. Tweets are routinely quoted in articles, particularly when a politician isn’t available for comment or when the tweet adds colour to the story. Being active and interesting on Twitter is likely to keep politicians in the news. Some might say it generates free coverage; earned media, the best kind. They just need to be sure they use Twitter effectively, treating the service and the messages they publish with the same considered thought they would during any public appearance.

Secondly, Twitter is probably the best way to build up digital chops. It doesn’t let users meander in their thoughts, doesn’t require a heavy time investment to offer something interesting, and there’s the benefit of reasonably quick feedback. And, like anybody else, politicians and candidates can tweet from just about anywhere there’s a computer or mobile/smart phone and an Internet connection. With the exception of airplanes in flight, there’s almost nowhere in Canada a tweet (with a photo, even) couldn’t be published.

That’s just a start. I could carry on about Twitter and other digital tools, the role they can play in a campaign and the importance of including them as part of an integrated strategy from the early days of campaign planning. In fact, I wrote a piece called Digitizing the Human Touch which looks at three important considerations for integrating digital into a campaign. The article appears on pages 56 and 57 of the December 2010 issue of Campaigns and Elections magazine, Canadian edition.

I expect the biggest news about Twitter in the next election will be similar to the last one; that Canadians will use the service to bypass media blackouts, sharing election results as they’re published across the country.

The sites listed below are essential reads for me every day and can be valuable tools for anyone tracking federal political coverage. 

1. National Newswatch – National Newswatch is the absolute ‘must read’ site for political players in Ottawa.  This news aggregator site lists the top stories making news on a daily basis while also linking to the primary columnists with each of the major news organizations to provide a good picture of the news terrain.  As an issue heats up over the course of a day, National Newswatch will almost always be the first site with links to the relevant news stories – providing varied voices on the event so the reader can see the different points of view providing coverage. 
2. Pundits Guide to Canadian Federal Elections – Pundits Guide provides some of the best analysis and information on election readiness and election results for each of the federal parties.  Not only does the site cover nominated candidates but it also provides analysis on the financial health of each of the federal parties as they report their quarterly and annual fundraising numbers.  Pundits Guide understands the nuances of Election Canada rules better than almost anyone on the web and has become a must visit site for anyone hoping to track election readiness.
3. Inkless Wells – Paul Wells has been one of the best political reads in Ottawa for over a decade – even while he was transferred to cover events in Europe for a short time.  While his weekly column for MacLean’s continues to be the reason why many of us read MacLean’s, his blog musings on ‘Inkless Wells’ provide intelligent, well researched looks at the issues of the day.  He is unafraid to call politicians out when they are underperforming – witness his reporting on Stéphane Dion’s leadership – or report on  less covered national pieces with zeal – like his coverage of the ‘Rights and Democracy’ standoff.  Part of what makes Paul Wells a must read is he understands all aspects of politics – both in terms of strategy to policy development – and this makes his insight especially pertinent to political audiences.
4. David Akin – David Akin, now with Sun Media, has been one of the best examples of a journalist using social media to both find stories and promote stories he is covering.  Like Wells, Akin is more than willing to delve into research and data to prove or disprove an argument being made by a federal politician.  He is not afraid to ask the tough question at a news conference or call a politician to task when they aren’t well prepared on a specific issue.
5. Public Eye Online – while BC based Public Eye Online does not look at national stories in the same way Ottawa based journalists do on issues, it is able to provide excellent coverage and analysis of both federal and provincial politics in BC.  Like Pundits Guide, Public Eye Online provides strong analysis on election readiness at both the riding and regional levels.  I began reading the website during a leadership campaign for its unique insight and analysis it provided of the campaign in BC but have continued reading it because it provides analysis of BC issues in a way that is hard to find anywhere else.

To me, my day would not be complete without paying a visit to each of these websites or blogs on a daily basis.  Their combined strength keeps me on top of federal political issues so that I have the information I need to provide my own analysis to our clients.

Today’s news conference on the Hill  that saw Stockwell Day sparring with reporters who eventually accused him of “not making any sense” on crime data and the census, is telling. Has the Ottawa press gallery finally turned on the government?

The Harper government should take solace in the fact that it happens to all governments eventually- some sooner than others. And five and half years is a respectable honeymoon by any measure.

But once it does, it’s so hard to right the ship.

I had the honor of working on Mr. Chretien’s tour in the 2000 election when the media turned on then reform party leader Stockwell Day. Whether it was man mingling with dinosaurs, the water flowing the wrong way (sorry Tim), or announcing his tough on crime platform the day Stats Can put out the quarterly crime stats showing a 20 year low-Day just couldn’t do anything right in the eyes of the media.

The shoe was on the other foot in the 2005 election for the Liberals when the gallery just grew tired of all Paul Martin’s fundamental priorites and started to paint him as a spent force.

The 5th estate are still a powerful influence in Canadian politics, despite the proliferation of voices via digital media. And when they feel you’re trying to dupe them, man, they will turn on you in a heartbeat.

I think Mr. Day felt that this afternoon. It will be interesting to see if this is a trend or a one-day wonder.

Because this much is true: for all the talk about strategy, fundraising and war-rooms;  having the media gunning for you  is way more of a threat.  Like Napoleon in Russia, you can’t win fighting a war on two fronts.