5 months ago
(NEWS CENTER) -- Four years ago, Facebook was mostly for college students, YouTube was amateur video, and barely anyone had heard of Twitter. Now social media is everywhere, and Maine's gubernatorial candidates are using it to get their campaign messages out. "Social media is good because it's a two-way street," explained Les Otten, one of the several republicans running for the Blaine House. "In social media, you can get immediate comments to your comments. And you can respond to them. I think it's a place where people can examine the candidate." Otten is one of the few in the race of more than 20 who has purchased traditional advertisements. He says that social media is an obvious way to get to voters. His opponents agree, saying because mainstream media isn't following the race much now, they need to turn to alternate forms of media. "I love to engage the voters directly," said republican Bruce Poliquin. "I've spent as much time as I can engaging them through those social networking platforms. I answer questions, I talk about policy issues, we blog twice a week, we use Twitter to get our events out there. And recruit volunteers and encourage people to show up at events." What's happening here is not unique to Maine. During the presidential campaign last fall, then-candidate-Obama leaned heavily on social media -- sending out messages to millions of people via Twitter and YouTube. The candidates agree, while it's nice to have new, free tools available to them, they still need to engage voters. "The interesting thing about it, is people need to come to us as well as us going to them, so it's not just being blasted at," said democrat Rosa Scarcelli. "It's kind of like going up to the door, knocking on it, and opening up the door and let you in." While these politicians are all trying to shake as many hands and talk with as many people as possible in real life, they're turning to their social media sites to answer a lot of questions. "One person asks me on Facebook or Twitter, there's probably a hundred more, or a thousand more, in Maine that care about that issue," said republican Matt Jacobson. "I'm getting a lot of good feedback very quickly. And it gives me a chance to engage with many more people than I would be able to in person."
Other candidates' websites:
Samme Bailey, Unenrolled
Lynne Williams, Green Independent
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