The duo inside the Facebook war room

When President Barack Obama's campaign wants to put out a new message on Facebook, it often calls up a Democratic strategist who sits two feet away from a Republican who does the same for Mitt Romney.

It's not the world's most impressive war room ? just two people in Facebook's F Street office with graffiti and exposed wires. But it is the place where any candidate, many far less savvy than the presidential campaigns, are trying to harness the power of this whole "social networking" thing they hear so much about.

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It's a smart business move for Facebook: cash in on a divided Washington by playing to the insecurities of both sides. Campaigns don't want their secret digital strategy revealed to the other side, so Facebook will ensure that a bona fide Democrat or Republican will handle their most sensitive requests.

"There's a natural trust issue: Republicans don't trust Democrats. I don't trust Democrats with how I spend my ad dollars," said Vincent Harris, owner of Harris Media LLC, who ran the digital campaigns for the GOP presidential bids of Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich.

The two strategists are Democrat Adam Conner, 27, and Republican Katie Harbath, 31. Conner's desk has a Daily Kos water bottle and Harbath's has her framed autographed photo of the Young Guns ? Reps. Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy.

Conner was on the Kerry-Edwards campaign in '04, and Harbath was the chief digital strategist at the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Now they?re unlikely teammates, answering a constant stream of calls and emails from everyone from presidential campaign consultants to small town mayors. If the question is technical, either one can walk them through Facebook?s tools ? from timelines to targeted ads. But if it?s politically sensitive, the candidate or campaign can work with a fellow partisan to help tailor messages to constituents and voters.

As Facebook's power and reach grows, campaigns are looking to harness expert strategy on how to use that treasure trove of data volunteered by users, from the obvious (age, gender, ZIP code and political affiliation) to the more nebulous (TV show preferences, hobbies, organizational affiliations).

Such information can help target partisan messages to voters. Candidates can be shown, for instance, how to promote themselves on the walls of people who have "liked" their opponents, or a message can be tailored to, say, unaffiliated voters who express an interest in women's health topics.

It works because, importantly, Conner and Harbath don't share their campaign confidences outside the office. In fact, if one is not available, campaigns can consult with the other, and both say they try to help in a nonpartisan manner. (Harbath and Conner don't actually sell the ads; Facebook has a sales staff, including some who focus on politics, for that.)

Obama 2008 digital campaign chief Scott Goodstein said there's always risk in this sort of dealing but "at least you have a little bit better chance that Adam's not going to call up a Republican and say, 'The Democrat just bought X amount of ads, you better double up.'? The fact that Katie and Adam sit six feet from one another? What am I gonna do? If I want to play around on their network, I have to trust."

Harris has the same approach, but from the other side of the spectrum. "Does Adam know what I'm buying? Sure. I might go to him to say I'm spending $100,000 and this is who I want to reach, but I'm not going to bare my soul to someone of the opposite party," he said.

It's very different with Harbath. "Katie and I had a conversation before the Iowa caucuses when Perry was trying to win over evangelicals, and she suggested one way to reach those voters was to advertise on the Facebook wall of alumni from Christian universities in Iowa," Harris said.

Source: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0712/78497.html

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