As an SEO/SEM consultant, I do often use tools that are online. Some of them are good, some difficult to use, some I never use because they are only for the US and have no other language than English.

Of course, one of the tools I do use is Google Trends. Today I heard the news that Hilary Clinton was about to stop her race for the US elections. So I went to Google Trends and did the test :

Obama (blue line) vs Clinton (red line)

According to the volume of search, it appears that Obama was already ahead for a while.

Try John McCain vs Obama, and you'll might already know who will be the next president! 

So here is the deal: Can we use actually those tools to predict the results of the elections? Are there enough people going on the web to get information so that we actually know who they are looking for, and maybe then voting for ? What are your thoughts on that ?