Dan Merica

@merica · Washington, D.C. · joined 01 May 2009

Anchor of the Early Brief newsletter at @WashingtonPost. Formerly at @AP, @TheMessenger and @CNN. Email: dan.merica@washpost.com

71 473Followers

3 306Following

39 133Posts total

40.1KViews on collected posts

Against accounts of the same size

6 posts from the last 90 days, next to the 10K–100K follower range. below its peers on both reach and engagement.

Median views3 032this account2 896median for 10K–100K

Reach, %4.24%this account9.51%median for 10K–100K

Engagement, %0.52%this account1.56%median for 10K–100K

Metric	This account	Median for 10K–100K	Ratio
Median views per post	3 032	2 896	1.05×
Reach (views ÷ followers)	4.24%	9.51%	0.45×
Engagement rate	0.52%	1.56%	0.33×

Others in this range → Compare with another account → How these benchmarks are built →

Growth & engagement

How the posts we collected actually performed: views and reaction rate post by post, what the audience did with them, and where the follower count goes.

Views per post

27.6K30 Jul

3.8K

2.3K31 Jul

1.5K13 Aug

1.1K19 Aug

3.9K1 Sep

Last 6 collected posts, oldest on the left. The scale is logarithmic: one post can outrun the rest a hundred times over.

Engagement rate per post

0.20%30 Jul

0.16%

1.21%31 Jul

0.47%13 Aug

0.74%19 Aug

0.57%1 Sep

Reactions — likes, reposts, replies and quotes — divided by views. Median for 10K–100K accounts is 1.56%.

What the audience does

Likes69.5%89 in total

Reposts20.3%26 in total

Replies3.9%5 in total

Quotes3.9%5 in total

Bookmarks2.3%3 in total

Share of every reaction we collected for this account. Replies mean argument, reposts mean endorsement, bookmarks mean the post was worth keeping.

The follower curve appears once this account has two daily snapshots — we take one a day, and this one is on its first.

Latest posts

Roy Cooper is out with a new ad in his Senate campaign against Michael Whatley. It shows Whatley in 2025 saying, “Grocery prices are down, gasoline prices are down, housing prices are down, inflation is down.” “Unbelievable,” Cooper exclaims. More here: https://t.co/HD48q8QoWk 3.9K views · 13 likes · 6 reposts · 1 replies 01 Sep 2026 A democratic socialist pulled off a stunning upset in Florida’s Democratic primary for a U.S. Senate seat Tuesday, defeating her better-funded opponent with a strong showing in communities where progressives usually struggle. w/ @ccemorse & @teoarmus: https://t.co/27mMSz5Fs7 1.1K views · 4 likes · 4 reposts · 0 replies 19 Aug 2026 Oatmeal strikes back. What Democrats can learn from Tony Evers and his audacious Wisconsin plan: https://t.co/5c3sKYu4fE 1.5K views · 6 likes · 0 reposts · 0 replies 13 Aug 2026 Trump’s poll numbers just took another turn for the worse  The president of the United States is more unpopular than he has ever been, according to a series of polls of American voters ahead of the 2026 midterms. More here: https://t.co/pkf0s7qetJ 2.3K views · 14 likes · 10 reposts · 3 replies 31 Jul 2026 Sign me up for the Day 2 story on this one. 3.8K views · 6 likes · 0 reposts · 0 replies 30 Jul 2026 We sent a team of interns out to sample the best soft-serve ice cream in D.C. From traditional to trendy, here are the spots that made the cut: https://t.co/80YM2LHmEK 27.6K views · 46 likes · 6 reposts · 1 replies 30 Jul 2026