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President Obama rose above the fray in his response to Clint Eastwood’s RNC speech Thursday night by praising his work as an actor and director, citing Million Dollar Baby and Mystic River as examples of his expertise.   No criticism.  No speculation.  Just praise for a job well done.  Grace and style.  I would expect nothing less. 

By contrast, on Meet the Press this morning, Newt graciously admitted the Eastwood thing had been a distraction, then promptly dismissed its relevance, and expressed his relief that SNL will be spoofing Eastwood, rather than the candidate.  I think the jury’s still out on that one.     

So much for broadcast media.  I find a much more interesting take on all this in the social media realm.  I think Tweet counts have their own stories to tell, and may be more valuable than formal polls, which can easily be skewed in any number of ways. So how did Obama vs Romney fare last week in the Twittersphere?    

A Twitter spokeswoman said the highest number of retweets during the 4-day RNC goes to the Obama camp with their “this seat’s taken” photo response to Eastwood’s empty chair, according to a USA Today report.  In fact, it was the President’s second-most retweeted message so far….51,400, exceeded only by the 61,500 retweets last May when he gave his speech in support of gay marriage. 

How did candidate what’s-his-name-? stack up?  USA Today reported that Romney’s top number for the entire RNC had been retweeted just 4,800 times.  It was the quote, “Our economy runs on freedom, not government. It’s time we put our faith back in the American people.” 

So the president sitting in his chair with his back to the camera and his hands folded in front of him got more than ten times the traffic that Mitt’s worn-out grand finale empty platitude.  Again, I would expect nothing less.