Political pokes: Candidates now on Facebook

As hundreds of thousands of college students across the country protest the Facebook News Feed, another recently introduced feature has gone largely unnoticed.\nA new election feature allows politicians to interact with younger voters. Students can also let all of their friends know who they support.\n"We wanted to do something to increase the political voice of the people on Facebook, a group that tends to be on the younger side of the electorate and which is often underrepresented in Washington and state capitals," Facebook's elections project manager Ezra Callahan wrote on the Facebook blog. "By bringing politicians to Facebook, you can engage with candidates on your turf, in ways that are familiar and meaningful to you."\nCallahan's post claims that Facebook now features more than 1,600 profiles for candidates in House, Senate and state governor races.\nSen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., is one of the Hoosier politicians with a more detailed profile. The profile notes he enjoys country, rock and bluegrass music, his favorite movie is "It's A Wonderful Life" and apple pie is one of his favorite foods. He lists some of his interests as energy independence, national security and the war on terror. \nBayh's Press Secretary Meghan Keck said the senator provides all the original information for his profile and continues to provide input by updating it regularly.\nMore than a year ago, Bayh's office asked Facebook to remove a fake Evan Bayh profile because it confused some constituents, Keck said in a May 26, 2005, Indiana Daily Student article.\nCandidates in the hotly contested 9th Congressional District are also paying attention to Facebook.\n"Communicating with the 18- to 25-year-old demographic can be difficult," said Cam Savage, spokesman for Rep. Mike Sodrel, R-9th. "This allows us to talk to people who turn to the Internet before they turn on the radio or TV."\nLike the blog on his official Web site, Sodrel's profile has been updated by volunteers, but Savage didn't rule out the possibility of Sodrel updating it personally in the weeks before the Nov. 7 election.\n"When he visited the U.S.-Mexico border a few weeks ago, he was sending back (blog) posts on his Blackberry," Savage said.\nHe said future updates will probably include information about campaign issues and Sodrel's voting record.\nLibertarian candidate for the 9th District and economics professor at IU Southeast said his campaign had reviewed Facebook but was unsure of how to use it yet.\n"We looked into it and there are 342 libertarians on IU's campus," Schansberg said. "We thought about maybe sending T-shirts to them, but we don't have any grand plans. We'll have a presence on there soon though." \nBaron Hill, the Democratic challenger for the 9th District seat, also has a profile on Facebook but has not updated it yet.