This study investigates the use of Twitter as a platform for political deliberation and its ability to reflect and predict offline political sentiment and election outcomes. Using LIWC text analysis software, the authors analyzed over 100,000 tweets related to political parties and politicians in Germany before the 2009 federal election. The findings indicate that Twitter is indeed used for political discussion, with a significant portion of messages containing substantive issues and interactive elements. The sentiment of these messages closely aligns with the political positions of the parties and politicians, reflecting the nuances of the election campaign. Additionally, the number of tweets mentioning a party closely mirrors the election results, suggesting that Twitter can serve as a valid indicator of political opinion and a predictor of election outcomes. The study also found that joint mentions of parties reflect real-world political ties and coalitions. Despite limitations such as the non-representative sample and the use of a general text analysis software, the results demonstrate that Twitter can be a valuable tool for understanding and predicting political sentiment and outcomes.This study investigates the use of Twitter as a platform for political deliberation and its ability to reflect and predict offline political sentiment and election outcomes. Using LIWC text analysis software, the authors analyzed over 100,000 tweets related to political parties and politicians in Germany before the 2009 federal election. The findings indicate that Twitter is indeed used for political discussion, with a significant portion of messages containing substantive issues and interactive elements. The sentiment of these messages closely aligns with the political positions of the parties and politicians, reflecting the nuances of the election campaign. Additionally, the number of tweets mentioning a party closely mirrors the election results, suggesting that Twitter can serve as a valid indicator of political opinion and a predictor of election outcomes. The study also found that joint mentions of parties reflect real-world political ties and coalitions. Despite limitations such as the non-representative sample and the use of a general text analysis software, the results demonstrate that Twitter can be a valuable tool for understanding and predicting political sentiment and outcomes.