A new site launched by Twitter helps users see who's ahead in the 2012 presidential race based on tweets alone.

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The political index takes into account any mentions of either candidate's last name, as well as direct mentions to their official Twitter handles, @barackobama and @mittromney.

Topsy Labs, Inc., the social analytics provider Twitter partnered with, also measures whether those tweets have a positive connotation, converting the data into a value for each candidate. Scores range from zero to 100.

The millions of tweets sent about other topics are also taken into account.

According to Topsy Labs, Inc. the numerical score is an indication that tweets about that candidate were more positive than said percentage of other topics in play on Twitter.

In addition to Topsy, the political index is also the result of a partnership with The Mellman Group and North Star Opinion Research, Topsy Labs, Inc. says.