LinkedIn: How Professionally Connected are the 2012 GOP Presidential Candidates

LinkedIn is arguably the most important social networking website for business professionals in America. I was interested to see how the current crop of 2012 GOP presidential candidates were represented on LinkedIn. The results are indeed interesting.

Below are the LinkedIn profiles and some key statistics for each of the current GOP candidates. Candidates are listed in order of rank based upon the following criteria: do they have a profile, how well are the profiles completed, links to website / social pages, how many connections and how many recommendations.

1. Ron Paul - Profile: Yes, Extensive Details, 3 Links, 500+ Connections, 16 Recommendations
2. Newt Gingrich - Profile: Yes, Moderate Details, 1 Link, 500+ Connections, 4 Recommendations
3. Rick Perry - Profile: Yes, Few Details, 4 Links, 500+ Connections, 1 Recommendation
4. Rick Santorum - Profile: Yes, Almost No Details, 1 Link Working (2 Broken Links), 358 Connections, 0 Recommendations
5. Mitt Romney - Profile: Not Really, No Details, 0 Links, 0 Connections, 0 Recommendations
6. Michele Bachmann * - Profile: No, No Details, 0 Links, 0 Connections, 0 Recommendations
7. Jon Huntsman * - Profile: No, No Details, 0 Links, 0 Connections, 0 Recommendations
*Note: You will have to log in to LinkedIn in order to see search results for candidates that do not have a public profile on LinkedIn.

Other 2012 Presidential Candidates:
Herman Cain * - Profile: No, No Details, 0 Links, 0 Connections, 0 Recommendations
Barack Obama - Profile Yes, Moderate Details, 3 Links, 500+ Connections, 0 Recommendations

It is also worth noting that some of the candidates do have LinkedIn Groups dedicated to their 2012 Presidential run.