Candidates connect - on Facebook

MOUNT PLEASANT -- The three candidates in the area's highest-profile political race are using social networking to stay in touch with voters, build their base of support and help paint a picture of themselves as candidates.

Joe Bustos, Gary Santos and Billy Swails, the trio of town councilmen running for mayor, are employing Facebook and other tools to get their messages across.

Bustos' page includes a daily progress report on his door-to-door campaign. "We are off to do a second day of door-knocking in Snee Farm today," he wrote Thursday. His page showed Bustos and his wife Kathy on the bicycle-built-for-two they use for campaign travel. He wrote that he and his wife have knocked on more than 1,500 doors in the course of their campaigning for the Nov. 3 election.

Santos' page presents his lone opposition to a plan to narrow a section of Coleman Boulevard. Santos also highlights his longtime involvement in promoting the town recreation program. "The majority of you reading this have probably been mentored by him in some sport," his page said Thursday. He'll campaign at Friday football games and pass out fliers in neighborhoods this weekend.

Swails said Thursday on Facebook that he was glad to be back because someone had blocked access to his page. "Somehow it was sabotaged and went down for a week.

... Communication is a priceless thing," he wrote.

Swails said he uses Facebook for campaigning but mostly to stay in touch with family and friends. He'll attend his grandson's football game at Bishop England and take the rest of the weekend off.

Swails, Santos and Bustos have Facebook links to their campaign Web sites where they detail their positions on various issues and offer opportunities to participate in their campaigns.

Facebook, however, provides a different sort of glimpse of the candidates than the campaign Web sites. For instance, Swails has 75 photos of campaign social events posted on Facebook. Bustos has numerous campaign photos on Facebook, too, in addition to a link to 58 Facebook users who support him for mayor. Santos has five photo albums totalling 119 pictures posted on Facebook.

Santos said he also uses the LinkedIn social network, while Bustos said he uses Twitter in his campaign.

Find them on the internet
facebook.com
(free membership required)

Campaign web sites:
votebustos.com
billyswailsformayor.com
santosformayor.com

Coming Sunday

Mount Pleasant's Nov. 3 elections are winner-take-all. Read more about the mayoral and council races.

Reach Prentiss Findlay at 937-5711 or pfindlay@postandcourier.com.