Republican Dan Bongino hopes a strong social media presence will help him overcome the fundraising deficit he has against incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, and ultimately catapult him to victory this November.
"We knew from the beginning in our campaign that we would be fighting literally a machine," Bongino said. "A machine with money, access and a long history in Maryland."
Tell us in comments: Who will you be supporting, Bongino or Cardin?
Real Clear Politics and Roll Call both mark Maryland's Senate race in their safely Democratic columns, and the state hasn't sent a Republican senator to Washington in 25 years.
Cardin has raised more than $5 million to fund his re-election bid for the U.S. Senate in 2012. Bongino has raised just over $260,000, according to Open Secrets. That means the Severna Park Republican's campaign is operating on about 0.05 percent of budget Cardin has at his disposal.
"There are very few people in our campaign that are paid at all; maybe three or four," Bongino said.
The former Secret Service agent said his business background got him thinking about what he could add to his campaign that would distinguish him from Cardin.
"I noticed that [Cardin's] website was not really user friendly, so I decided that technology and social media was a way to differentiate ourselves and level the playing field," he said.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Bonginio had 3,010 Facebook fans compared with Cardin's 3,760. On Twitter, where Bongino tweets significantly more than his Democratic counterpart, he boasts 2,435 followers to Cardin's 10,274.
The Republican also offers supporters a free iPhone app that Bongino said contains up-to-the-minute information about his fundraisers, events and photos from the campaign trail that don't make it on the website.
Bongino said approximately 200 people have downloaded the app, which was created free of charge for the campaign by a supporter.
He added that his campaign has received several technology donations that range from website help to advice on navigating Facebook.
Bongino also tweets and posts on Facebook himself in an effort to separate himself from the Cardin campaign.
"I had a social media person. I got rid of the person because I felt that the campaign was losing authenticity," Bongino said. "Unlike my opponent, you’re talking to the candidate, and you’re getting my unfiltered thoughts, not consultant screened material."
He said the only things he doesn't tweet are messages about campaign events and the occasional link to basic information about his position about an issue.
He said his social media push has brought people out in person.
"A guy from Anne Arundel County read my tweets about health care solutions, and came out to a sign waving we did," Bongino said.
And at the July Fourth parade in Annapolis, the Bongino campaign turned out about twice as many volunteers to march in the 90-degree weather. He attributes that success to his increasing social media presence.
Whether enough of Bongino's social media fans come out to vote for him this November remains to be seen.
I think that's part of the problem with political debates. Everyone wants to throw down that X-Politician is the cause of Y-Problem, but no one provides proof. They just say they did so, often because of their own perceived labels. "He's a Democrat, so he's part of a progressive conspiracy responsible for the downfall of this country!" or "He's a Republican, so he's only there to let the corporations run the country!" Before I decide my vote, I would like to know ~what~ specific actions an incumbent has done to create or exacerbate social and economic conditions.
You mention two things: the Stimulus and TARP. I admit I am not an economist, so I wade through nonsense to try and understand their current effects. We can speculate all we want on the future, but we can only go by effects since their institution. From what I can put together, ignoring biased media and trying to use fact-checking and peer-reviewed analyses, the Stimulus has not done as well as hoped. However, it has not made things worse and ~has~ helped... at least a bit. Whether this help is temporary, or can lead to a worst bubble, is all speculation. I'm going by hard-lined facts on what HAS occurred... and so far it has not been a bust. TARP is even more unknown to me. From what I can tell it was a good idea that was poorly implemented and regulated. I compare it to handing a bum on the street $100 (instead of the usual $1) and then hoping he'll do something good with it... then getting upset when he buys liquor. Still, just because someone liked a good idea that went bad doesn't mean the person is malevolent.
Please note that this is an honest question from someone who is looking at the issues... not the party. I want honest, reliable, valid, and supported answers before I choose.
I am a concerned voter who is researching the two candidates. I cannot check Bongino's voter record, because he has not held office... I can only check the stances he claims on his website (the majority of which I like). I ~can~ check Cardin's voter record as he is the incumbent. So far I have found no evidence of anything he voted for contributing to the recession of the US economy. Therefore, I would like evidence (from either side) if any of these candidates has behaved in a manner that has lead to the negative sociopolitical situations we are now facing.
If you can't give a serious answer, then I'll ask someone else to please provide evidence of Cardin's record and how it has caused the recession.
Arrogant would be to sign a pledge to NEVER raise taxes no matter what before Day 1 in office. Actually, I take that back, it's not arrogant, it's reckless.