GOP vs. Democrats on Facebook.com

It was a big moment for the GOP last week when it surpassed the Democratic Party's number of Facebook members. At one point, the Republican National Committee's site had 11,739 supporters to the Democrats' 11,200. The GOP tells us it uses Internet social networks to woo new voters and keep them updated even when there aren't any elections. "Our goal is to engage supporters and bring more people into the process. For us, it's a long-term commitment to engage more online supporters and elect Republicans," says GOP spokesman Alex Conant. But the slight advantage in the Facebook war didn't last long. After we pestered the Democrats, Chairman Howard Dean blasted out an invitation to his Facebook friends to join, and the number popped to 12,394. "It took the RNC months to achieve what the DNC did in minutes. It's a sure sign of things to come," crows spokeswoman Stacie Paxton.