Candidates needed at least 1,000 friends to qualify. The lighter color represents MySpace friends added over the the last seven days

After the pollsters and pundits have had their say, presidential elections are really just grown-up versions of high school student council races—popularity contests, really. It's either that or have the Supreme Court decide outcomes (and that hasn't really worked out, has it?). To help keep power in the hands of the shallow, superficially focused electorate, Radar introduces the weekly MySpace Friend Race '08, in which we track the front-runners based not on their campaign fundraising or poll numbers but on the number of friends they rack up on the digital popularity contest that is MySpace.

To keep things simple, we've illustrated popularity with the iconic cool kids from Saved By The Bell. Because massive campaign coffers and endearing speeches are, in essence, desperate attempts to score with the likes of Kelly Kapowski or win a seat at the Maxx alongside Preppie and Slater.

[Click here to see the full, expanded rundown of qualifying candidates!]