The opponents each have a presence on a host of digital communities, including streaming music service Spotify, image-sharing network Pinterest and the Facebook-owned picture network Instagram - where Mr Romney has been busy posting pictures of himself at home with his family.

BBC: Barack Obama Facebook campaign sees 'likes' soar

Though the failed pilot never received a network pickup, it leaked onto file-sharing service BitTorrent and, thousands of downloads later, it proved there clearly was an audience for it.

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