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Google Search the Democratic Candidates
The first rule of the Internet is clear your Google searches. You don’t want people to know what you’re curious about. Google is what campus progressives call a safe space, and if you want to know how many calories are in that calzone you just ate or what peculiar sex practices are popular in Iowa, then that’s your business.
But the search terms are public. (That’s a fundamental part of the Google business model, after all.) And here’s what people searched for during the last Democratic debate, from Media Post:
While questions about Hillary Clinton led among Democratic nominees in 12 states on google.com, Bernie Sanders took the remaining states. Broken down into counties across the country shows a speckled mess of inquisitive of potential voters.
Two of the top-searched questions on Google for Hillary Clinton were not about the themes her campaign hoped to highlight during the debate. The top trending question on Google about Hillary focused on “Will Hillary Clinton get prosecuted?” followed by “Will Hillary Clinton win the nomination?” and “What did Hillary Clinton do that is illegal?”
I like that! People are curious! The answers are, in order: “Probably not because the system is corrupt;” “Probably so because the system is corrupt;” and “Got three hours?:
But she was up there with two other folks:
Searches on Bernie Sanders had the highest spikes during the debate, representing the most searches at any given time — at 6:05 P.M., just a few minutes after the debate began during his opening statements, and 6:23 P.M.
And what they wanted to know was:
“Why is Bernie Sanders so popular?” followed by “Can Bernie Sanders win?” and “How old is Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders?”
To which the answers are, in order: “Because he reminds people of their colorful, crazy neighbor;” “No;” and “Ninety-seven”.
Finally, a sad note:
For Martin O’Malley, the top questions were: “Why is Martin O’Malley running for President?”, “Martin O’Malley was Governor of which state?” and “Is Martin O’Malley still running for President?”
People, apparently, wanted to know if Martin O’Malley was still running for president while watching him during a presidential debate. And that seems like what political pros call a “messaging problem.”
Published in Politics
I’ve never met a Democratic voter that I would label as “curious” – at least not when it came to matters of reason, logic, or common sense. The Google queries sound to me more like what 8th-graders would ask in order to write a school essay.
Just out of curiosity, what happens when you Google the Republican candidates?
I’m not tech savy, how do you clear your search? I’m still getting promotions about cars, or plumbing from things I look for years ago.
If I was running (and it is a shame I’m not) I would find an unusual word or phrase to describe my theme of the night. And beat that word into the ground.
I’d also have that same word plastered all over my Web site.
“OK, Google. What does usurpatory mean?”
Just Google “unnatural sex acts,” and that should make everything clear for you. *
* Do not take this advice. What browser are you using?
Ha. That would really start a flood. I search with Bing more often than not. Is the browser Safari? It’s an I mac.
Well, I don’t know precisely with Safari. Mac users? Can someone give I Walton instructions for clearing his search history?
On the browser I use, there is a “History” menu, and the second option down is “Clear Recent History.” It is probably something similar.
Google keeps its own record if you are logged in there.
I think it is fun sometimes to go back and review all the YouTube videos I watched in the last year. A way to review your every fleeting thought.
I was wondering the same thing myself…
Since Google tracks you, the clearing has to be done by logging into your Google account and going here:
https://history.google.com/history/
However, I recommend you use a search engine that does not track your searches, such as DuckDuckGo. You can also just sign out of Google if you don’t want your searches there to be linked to you, though that may not be entirely successful.
You can change your default search engine in the Search preferences panel of Safari. That way, searches done in the address bar go to whichever search engine you select.
I also have History turned off on YouTube. Yes, I am a privacy freak.