Campaigning Through Facebook

Sometimes its difficult to view the current political candidates as human. Although on television they often present themselves as cold, unemotional, monotonous robots, I found it interesting that the majority of the front running candidates actually seem normal, personable beings from the information presented on their facebook pages. Facebook is a way of life for most college students; I know I tend to spend several hours on it daily. Campaign pages on facebook are a great way to spread a candidate's message to the younger sector of the population. Who knew that Barack Obama's favorite TV show was Sportscenter? John Edwards loves basketball and running. Mitt Romney transferred from Stanford to BYU to pursue his high school sweetheart. It's really surprising how much more ordinary and down to earth most of these politicians appear on their pages. This is not the case, however, for all of them. Giuliani's page was written in third person. I can read a biography about him anywhere; what I want is a personal chat with Rudy himself. The third person perspective makes him seem distant and impersonal. In my opinion, Hillary Clinton's page made her seem even less like a living thing than before. I don't care that she is a bestselling author. I'm aware that she is a champion of woman's rights. What I'd like to know is what she likes to do in her free time. Hillary, are you a fan of To Kill a Mockingbird? How about The Godfather? Do like to spend time shooting hoops with Bill and Chelsea? Some small amount of personal information would be nice to shatter your icy exterior.