Should we really be using Twitter numbers to assign authority to someone?

In a recent interview the national chairman for the Republican party made note of the fact that 45,000 followers to his Twitter account. So what? Are we now at the point that these numbers mean something? Or, at least, do they assign authority to him? I think not. At least not now. But I'll be we see that someday... yup, advertisers paying rates based on Twitter followers. We report. You decide.