Local candidates following Obama's e-campaign model

Not only did Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign embrace social media, but social media, in turn, embraced Obama.

The campaign boasted $6.5 million in online donations, 1 million text message subscribers and more than 5 million social networking followers, an effort that's been called revolutionary by supporters and opponents alike.

Now, the strategy is becoming standard practice for candidates from all parties and at all levels.

"The way (Obama) ran that campaign has changed the way campaigns will be run, how people want to be communicated with," said 10th Congressional District candidate Bob Dold, a Kenilworth Republican.

But bringing that success to scale is proving to be a challenge for suburban candidates running for office this fall.

While some have taken easily to the trend, quickly snapping up Facebook friends, Twitter followers and online fundraising dollars, others have been slower to change, focusing almost solely on tried-and-true campaign components such as ads, mailers and precinct walks.

"Whether they're using it or not, at this point they're all contemplating how to use it," Sharon Atler, professor emerita of history and political science at Harper College in Palatine said.

While numbers of followers by no means indicate who is leading in a particular race, they do shed light on the candidates' reliance on the tools, less than 100 days to go before the Nov. 2 election.

In the close race for the 43rd state House, Elgin Republican Ruth Munson is attempting to take her old seat back from first-term Elgin Democrat Keith Farnham.

Six-month financial reports reveal the candidates are neck and neck in terms of campaign cash on hand. Both have spent recent weeks out in the district that stretches from Elgin to Carpentersville to Hoffman Estates, knocking on doors.

Differences in social media strategy, however, are more apparent.

On her personal page, Ruth Munson had 2,441 friends as of last check - far more than any other suburban legislative candidate in the Daily Herald's coverage area. Add to that another 667 fans of her campaign page, "Join Ruth Munson," and 1,300 Twitter followers. Farnham, on the other hand, has 79 personal page friends, 5 political page fans, and doesn't yet tweet.

As a state representative in 2007, Munson said, she started learning about Facebook through her college-aged children.

As owner of a software-development business, the 52-year-old said using the high-tech tools came naturally. But seeking re-election in 2008, Facebook and Twitter hadn't yet exploded, and seemingly appealed to young voters more than anyone else.

Working with Elgin media strategist Sarah Evans, Munson said, helped her to refine her strategy, featuring a mix of personal contacts with fundraising opportunities and information about campaign events.

While separate pages, each of the social networking sites she uses are interlinked, so supporters can easily move - and post - from one page to the other.

"Using social media is second nature," she said. "I can solve the problem right there. Using it for my business, why wouldn't I use it in my personal life and political life?"

Farnham, 62, isn't of the same mindset.

"I've got some young people who want to do it on staff. A young man that set up my Facebook and Web page over the last couple months. To us, it's a secondary source. I know there's a certain (online audience) out there," he said. "I prefer standing at someone's door, actually talking to people."

In the Northwest suburban 9th Congressional District, Jan Schakowsky, an Evanston Democrat, has the advantage of incumbency, and Republican challenger Joel Pollak is attempting to use social media to make up ground.

Pollak, a frequent blogger for conservative sites, uses Twitter and Facebook to post his take on new legislation and political happenings daily. The 33-year-old Skokie human rights lawyer also weaves in a mix of fun, uploading videos from his iPhone of supporters using campaign signs to play an impromptu game of bags.

"There has been a little bit of a shift," campaign spokesman Shalom Klein said. "Originally we were just getting the message out there. Whoever was listening. We weren't targeting young voters in the district."

The campaign is currently doing an analysis of its success targeting various voter groups through the site, but does not yet have results.

Schakowsky, on the other hand, largely uses her Facebook campaign and Congress fan pages for the same purposes - to highlight congressional votes, media appearances and campaign stops, rarely posting anything conversational. Her campaign did not return calls seeking comment.

Green Party candidate Simon Ribeiro's campaign site for the 9th District seat does not provide links or information about Twitter or Facebook feeds.

"It's not about the quantity, but the quality of what you're putting out there," Evans said. "It's putting up the content that's going to drive your goal. If that goal is engagement or retention, people might be excited to see photos or videos of themselves at recent events on one of your pages."

Much, she said, is trial and error.

The 10th Congressional District race is largely considered a toss up between two young rising stars.

Dold, a 40-year-old Winnetka businessman, is up against Democratic challenger Dan Seals, a 39-year-old Wilmette business consultant.

The district, covering parts of northern Cook and eastern Lake County, is a swing district that has supported Democratic presidential candidates in recent years but sent Republican Mark Kirk to Congress five times.

Financial reports revealed the candidates were neck and neck in second-quarter contributions.

Facebook and Twitter, too, reveal similar numbers of followers and message styles. Seals has 1,222 followers on his political page. Dold has 1,319. Twitter shows Dold has 162 followers with 27 tweets, and Seals has 224 followers with 82 tweets.

Like Munson, Dold and Seals use the sites to create a back-and-forth interaction with potential voters.

On July 20, Dold posted on Facebook about his first radio ad, which he said introduced his reasons for running for office, and his "philosophy as a fiscal conservative and social moderate."

Those looking at the page not only had the opportunity to click on a link to hear the ad on his website, but could comment on the ad itself. A dozen different Facebook users either commented on the ad or "liked" the post.

"We don't want to overload people," Dold said. "We've been focused on creating a conversation."

The ultimate goal, he said, is to drive constituents to his website.

Seals campaign spokeswoman Aviva Gibbs calls her team's strategy a "flypaper mentality."

"I think it has to be interactive. It has to engage people and not be a message board," she said. "When people read our message and connect our message, they want to support the campaign, whether that's financially, getting out in the neighborhoods, doing their own blog posts."

Take, for example, Seals' July 22 post touting Planned Parenthood's endorsement, which also featured a link to the campaign website.

"Once they get to the site, they see a button where they can sign up for our e-mail updates. They'll get a confirmation message that encourages them to help Seals fundraise," Gibbs said.

"Once we have someone's eyes, we're trying to make it very easy for them to want to learn more."

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