Move aside, John McCain: Lady Gaga is now positioned to be the next big challenger to President Obama. It’s not exactly a race either necessarily chose to enter, but the Facebook pages of the president and the sequined pop phenomenon are deadlocked in a competition to become the first living person to hit the record-busting 10-million fan mark on Facebook.
Obama’s page was beating Lady Gaga’s in the unofficial contest Friday morning, but by noon, Lady Gaga’s 9,126,024 fans had surpassed the president’s 9,104,015. Meredith Chin, a corporate communications manager for the social networking site, tells Fox News that either of them could reach 10-million fans by later today, or this weekend.
Obama’s page is updated by Organizing for America, the president’s political arm that is run by the Democratic National Committee, and the page lists “Basketball, writing, and spending time with kids” as President Obama’s interests, and “Sportscenter” as his favorite television show. Obama’s “Favorite Pages” include Michelle Obama (she has 1,315,884 fans) and Vice President Biden (trailing at 223,830 fans).
The page also features photos from his June 4th trip to Louisiana and excerpts from recent speeches.
Lady Gaga’s page lists her upcoming concerts and includes an article about her rise to fame. “I want to invite you all to the party,” she tells her fans in the article. “I want people to feel a part of this lifestyle.”
For her own part, Lady Gaga’s Facebook page quotes her as saying: “I’m just trying to change the world one sequin at a time.”
It’s not the first time her sequins and his public policy have competed for attention. At a dinner for LGBT rights group Human Rights Campaign in Washington, D.C., on October 10, 2009, President Obama spoke and Lady Gaga performed. He quipped, “It’s a privilege to be here tonight to open for Lady Gaga…I’ve made it.”
The following day at a gay rights rally on the West Front of the Capitol, Lady Gaga yelled, “Obama, I know that you’re listening. Are you listening? We will continue to push you and your administration to bring your words of promise to a reality. We need change now.”
Lady Gaga has been championing for more gay rights and is noted for having a large following among the gay population. President Obama has slowly been implementing more benefits for gays, but has receivedcriticism both from the left and the right for either not doing too enough or doing too much. Just this week he expanded the family medical leave act to gay and lesbian employees.
Facebook says the next runner up in the race to become the first living person to have over 10 million fans is actor Vin Diesel (at 9,047,448), with actress Megan Fox (at 7,666,005) at a distant fourth. Late singer Michael Jackson holds the all time record for the most fans at over 13 million.
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