Blogging for Max

Nearly 62 percent support Republican in 12th race

By Adam Fogle, Editor-in-Chief
Blogging for Max

SAVANNAH, Ga. – For Kelly Gagne, the day is not complete without logging on to Facebook.com. In fact, the 20-year-old Georgia Southern University student said she visits the site roughly six times each day.

“I use it for a lot of things,” said Gagne. “I use it to promote my employer, connect with friends and other stuff.” And Gagne is not alone. She is one of more than 9 million people who log on daily to the networking phenomenon Facebook.

Besides instant access to an enormous network of friends and colleagues, subscribers can use their profile to keep friends updated on their whereabouts, relationship status, interests and even who they are supporting in the upcoming elections. All of the election information is automatically compiled in a section on the Web site called “Election Pulse.”

And that election data has unveiled a few surprises about student voters. Most notably, in Georgia’s hotly contested 12th Congressional District race, the traditionally left-leaning 18-to-30 crowd is overwhelmingly supporting the Republican candidate.

As of Wednesday morning, Sylvania educator Max Burns was backed by 61.33 percent of Facebook users while his Democratic opponent, Athens trial lawyer John Barrow, held only 38.67 percent support.

Gagne, who said she holds “moderate beliefs,” was not surprised by the results. “Max Burns is a home grown tomato. He’s not out looking for publicity; he’s just trying to do the right thing,” she said. “He was raised to do that and he raised his kids to that.”

The Georgia Election Pulse displays polling for the gubernatorial race and each of the 13 U.S. Congressional races “based on users supporting that candidate on their profile.”

Hayden Brantley, 20, a Political Science major at Georgia Southern University, thinks the results show student initiative. “A lot of people are starting to think clearer,” Brantley said. “They want to find a candidate who knows what he’s doing.”

Facebook has recently expanded the Web site to include high school students and young professionals.

Elizabeth Hilderbrand, 25, is one of those young professionals. The Armstrong Atlantic State University alumna said she believes the 18-to-30 demographic is strongly supporting Burns because the upcoming election is vital to her generation and that, “[Burns] supports the same things that [we were] raised to believe in.

“In my group of friends, defining marriage as one man and one woman is important,” she said. “And immigration is important.”

But admittedly for Hilderbrand, it is Burns’ economic platform that she feels entices student support. “His stances on taxes and the workforce mean a lot to us,” said Hilderbrand. “Planning on what to do once you graduate is important to students because we don’t know if social security is going to be there when we retire.”

Although 18-to-25-year-olds are the least likely to vote in elections, the addition of young professionals – generally 25 to 30 years old – to Facebook means that a large number of the Web site’s Burns supporters are apt to hit the polls.

The impact that Burns’ strong 62 percent showing will have on the election is yet uncertain. But the revelation already has South Georgia Democrats worried they are losing a critical base.