First the Ontario Election debate, then the home stretch

We’ve just come through the dog days of the 2011 Ontario election campaign.  Less than nine days to go and still no clear winner in sight if the polls are to be believed.  One thing is for sure, the Twitterverse coverage of the campaign hit a lull in the past week.  Expect that to change tonight as reporters, party workers, and die hard supporters take to their mobile devices and laptops in full force covering the leaders debate.  No stone will be left unturned as reporters will give running commentary of what’s said by the leaders, and what’s spun to them by party staffers.  Each political party and their staff will use all possible mediums to sing the praises of their respective leader, and jump on the failings of their opponents. 

What will the share of voice be tomorrow morning?  Looking back at Edelman ELECT’s coverage of the campaign to date expect the Liberals and Conservatives to dominate the Twitter traffic. During the first two weeks of the campaign they and their supporters dominated the conversation.  They have put more resources into their social media campaigns, and will want to ensure tonight that they leave nothing to chance as they get their messages out.

It will be of interest to see what the share of voice will be for the Green Party.  Look for that party and their supporters to take to Twitter protesting the absence of their leader Mike Schreiner as he was excluded from the debate.  I anticipate that they will attempt to get their message out throughout the program tweeting their position on each of the issues raised.

After tonight expect the online traffic to pick up for the remainder of the campaign.  It will be all hands on deck as the parties turn their sights to shoring up their support, and Ontarians begin to firm up their opinion about their ballot choices.   Will Ontarians begin to engage online?  So far the traffic appears dominated by the parties, their core supporters and the media.