I hope those politicians do okay as they battle off sexual predators at MySpace. That’s where politicians are these days – MySpace!

Luther Lowe already planned to vote for Rep. Marion Berry, an Arkansas Democrat running for re-election in November. But after finding the 64-year-old congressman’s profile online at MySpace and Facebook, he was impressed enough to send the candidate a $100 donation.

“He has some funny quotes and talks about himself” in the Web postings, says Mr. Lowe, a 24-year-old from Little Rock. “I felt like I could understand him on a personal basis. It played into the decision of me not only voting, but giving money, too.”

Politicians across the country are discovering that a presence on social-networking sites such as MySpace isn’t just a way of communicating with voters under 30, it is also a means of attracting volunteers and their donations. Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential primary run underscored the Internet’s untapped potential as a fund-raising tool, and political strategists say these networking sites go further by helping candidates to home in on specific audiences, beyond those who click on campaign Web sites.

Don’t laugh – these folks are getting results:

Chuck Poochigian, a Republican state senator from Fresno who is running for California attorney general, joined MySpace in early August. Within two months, Mr. Poochigian reported that the number of online donations to his campaign jumped more than 50%.

MySpace and other social networking sites have spawned more political campaign volunteerism as well.

The full article by Erika Lovley is here.