Candidates' web traffic

Can the presidential candidates’ web traffic predict a caucus winner?  

Top Democrats: Barack Obama has the most traffic, followed by Hillary Clinton and John Edwards. At first we thought Obama led Clinton because people are less familiar with him than the former first lady. We thought that his high web traffic was less an indicator of interest or support, and more a reflection of people’s need to find out who he is. We nixed that notion when Edwards came in third, because he also has less name recognition than the first lady. So we think web traffic reflects people’s interest in and support of the candidates.

Top Republicans: Mike Huckabee leads, followed by Mitt Romney and John McCain. Note how Huckabee doesn’t even register on the graph until late October, when he shot up to the top. Rudy Giuliani isn’t in the graph because he’s not participating in the Iowa caucus.