In Florida, voters responded most when Mitt Romney tweeted about education and when President Obama tweeted about foreign affairs. In Ohio, Mr. Obama's tweets about gay rights, more so than any other topic, held the most traction. For Mr. Romney, it was his tweets about the economy.
Twitter introduced an interactive map on Thursday showing which of the candidates' Tweets drove the most engagement-measured by the number of times the Tweet was retweeted or “favorited†on Twitter-at the national and state levels.
Nationwide, Mr. Obama's most popular tweet was, “No family should have to set aside a college acceptance letter because they don't have the money.†His second most popular tweet was actually a quote from Vice President Biden about women's rights:  “VP Biden: I do not believe that we have a right to tell other people, women, that they can't control their bodies.†Interestingly, at the state level, that tweet resonated most with voters in Wyom ing, followed by Iowa, South Dakota and West Virginia, states where women's rights is not considered the pivotal issue.
Mr. Romney's most popular tweet was this remark on September 11th: “On this most somber day, America is united under God in its quest for peace and freedom at home and across the world.†Second most popular was a comment about wealth distribution: “I am running for president to get us creating wealth again â€" not to redistribute it.â€
In swing states, Twitter's map tells an interesting, and sometimes counter intuitive, story. According to the latest polls, Virginia, Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Colorado and Florida are still toss-ups.
In the last presidential election, the President won Virginia by seven percentage points. This year, the race is set to be much closer. There, voters' response was highest when the candidates tweeted about issues related to retirement.
The same was true for Wisconsin. Democrats carried the state in the past six presidential elections, but the addition of one of their own, Representative Paul D. Ryan, to Mr. Romney's ticket has kept the race tight. There, retirement was also the issue that seemed to have the most traction on Twitter.
In Iowa, where six electoral votes are still up for grabs, voters engaged most when Mr. Obama tweeted about topics related to energy and the environment and when Romney tweeted about health care.
Nevada voters responded most to Obama's comments on taxes. “1,240,000 middle-class families in Nevada could face a tax increase under Mitt Romney,†was Mr. Obama's most popular Tweet in that state. Mr. Romney's tweets about education drove the highest level of engagement. “With over 60k jobs lost & the highest unemployment rate in the nation, Nevadans aren't better off under @BarackObama,†was Mr. Romney's most popular Tweet.
In Colorado, women's issues have taken center stage after women proved key to two Democratic victories in the 2010 races for Senate and governor. But according to Twitter's data, Colorado voters responded in the largest numbers when Mr. Obama tweeted about taxes. For Mr. Romney, it was his remarks about terrorism.
If, as in the 2004 election, the race comes down to Florida, then the candidates may do well to defy conventional wisdom that retirement is all Florida voters care about. Within Florida, Mr. Romney's tweets about retirement did not resonate as well as his tweets about education and foreign affairs. Likewise, Mr. Obama's tweets about topics relevant to retirement had less traction than his tweets about terrorism and foreign affairs.
Despite the perception that Twitter is just a place for East and West coasters to talk to each other, Twitter's map shows a surprising level of engagement in states like Wyoming, Utah, Texas, Mississippi and Oklahoma. The opposite proved true for New Hampshire and Vermont, where Twitter noted it was n ot able to collect enough data to draw conclusions.
