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The GOP Candidates Defined? A Word Cloud From Daily Beast Readers

Inspired by Wednesday’s debate, when CNN’s John King asked all four Republican candidates to define themselves in one word, we asked Daily Beast readers to do the same.

The candidates' answers on Wednesday night were predictably positive: “Consistent,” trumpeted Ron Paul. “Courage,” said Rick Santorum. Romney went with “resolute,” and Newt Gingrich said “cheerful.”

But when we asked readers of The Daily Beast's Facebook page the very same question, their responses were somewhat more varied—and reflected the Internet's love of snark. Using Wordle, an online application that converts text into word clouds, we turned the hundreds of words submitted for each candidate into visual representations. (Larger words indicate that multiple people chose that term.) A few particularly offensive words were omitted from the clouds.

Mitt Romney

Out went “resolute” and in came “fake,” “plastic,” “presidential,” and “dog-challenged” for the former Massachusetts governor.

Romney_NEW

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Ron Paul

Congressman Paul called himself “consistent” at the debate. “Honest,” “crazy,” “racist,” and “old” were among your top submissions. Our favorite: “guanopsychotic.” (We had to look it up too.)

Paul_NEW

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Rick Santorum

Poor Rick Santorum, who described himself as “courageous” at the debate, just can’t escape that Google problem. Other terms for Santorum: “religious,” “sanctimonious,” and “God-talker.”

Santorum_NEW

Click to enlarge

Newt Gingrich

Newt Gingrich may think he’s “cheerful,” but your responses include “hypocrite,” “soulless,” and “biscuit”—a likely reference to Ginger Newts, a type of cookie in Harry Potter.

Gingrich_Update

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All Four GOP Candidates Combined

And here, ladies and gentlemen, is your bird's-eye view of all four GOP candidates, in all their reptilian, guanopsychotic, hypocritical goodness.

all-candidate-word-cloud-NEW

Click to enlarge

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