As exhaustingly exhilarating as the 2008 elections were, the 2010 midterms are right around the corner and no one should be napping. Evan Bayh warned Democrats with both his words and his retirement that Scott Brown's election in Massachusetts is a grim indicator of electoral patterns in November. The race to the polls has already begun, and a useful mode of transportation for many is Twitter. A sizable portion of announced Senatorial candidates have active campaign-centered Twitter accounts, and we here at OhMyGov! have tracked them down and followed them all. Although the elections are still months away, the early tweeters are having their songs heard.

Most Senatorial candidates use Twitter to promote their other media-interjections. The candidates with a more established following, such as incumbent John Thune, often tweet of upcoming interviews, appearances, op-eds and blog entries: "I was on Campbell Brown on CNN to discuss the Dems' use of reconciliation to jam through the health care bill. Watch: http://bit.ly/5exJXY". Others are using Twitter to post scathing stories on their competitors, as Attorney General of Connecticut Dick Blumenthal so shrewdly did: "Can a $50 million self spender beat quality public service? Watch CNN's report on Linda McMahon's spending -http://bit.ly/ahfCnB #ctsen."

Twitter will definitely be a boxing ring for fighting words in these (and many subsequent) elections. Last week, when most of us were frenziedly following the Health Care Summit, Sen. Arlen Specter launched his notorious rant on Joe Sestak's alleged paying his staff less than minimum wage. Considering the two men will be duelling for the Democratic nomination in Pennsylvania, it's probably safe to assume that there will be plenty more tweets where this came from.

Not only is Twitter a handy platform for mudslinging, it's yet another way to point voters to what are still the central attraction: campaign ads.

We have seen campaign commercials have been tweeted by the dozen. Former WWE CEO Linda McMahon, who is running in Connecticut, has tweeted several campaign videos, including this Lifetime Original-status gem. Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway just posted first campaign commercial as has incumbent Senator Blanche Lincoln, who attempts to distance herself from the pack (of donkeys). The timing of Lincoln's posting curiously coincided with the AFL-CIO's endorsement of her challenger, Bill Halter. In another case of convenient tweet-timing, Bill Halter first started tweeting on March 1st, the day he announced his campaign to represent Arkansas in the Senate. 

More than anything, though, Twitter provides a peek into what these candidates are really like...or at least how they'd like us to think they're really like. Alexander Snitker, a Libertarian candidate from FL, tends to just tweet about a) Ron Paul & money bombs, and b) the latest YouTube channel he's subscribed to (which are sometimes kind of weird).

Midge Potts' bio describes her as a "Transgender Activist Musician Politician who is running for US Senate in Missouri's 2010 general election" which is definitely interesting, but almost pales in comparison to Mike Wiley's confusing-because-he-sounds-likes-he's-mad bio: "Freedom, Integrity, Guts, Honor & Tenacity - FIGHT~! G-D, Country & Family. Help me defeat HARRY REID; I'm the one TRUE conservative in the race." Louisiana Libertarian Anthony "Tony G" Gentile's name alone reeks of personality; exactly what kind of personality is still to be determined (further illustrated by his lack of followers). 

And, aside from forcing me to question my own love affair with parenetheses with tweets (see photo below), Maryland Senatorial candidate Eric Wargotz has an oddly ethereal Twitter page. Veering from the typical red, white and blue uniform of campaign webpages and Twitter homepage templates, Wargotz has posted a serene pastel color palette and what appears to be a sailboat in a sunset as his background. 

However, Twitter can't do all the talking and walking for you--you have got to have the gusto to back it up.

While searching for Darlene Fitzgerald Price's Twitter account (to no avail...yet), I was taken by her surreal website, and couldn't help but think that undercover-cop-turned-Senator from Kentucky is a movie role with Julia Roberts/Sandra Bullock/reinvented Angelina Jolie's name written all over it. Despite the fact that she sat next to Frank Serpico at a hearing doesn't change the fact that I found myself getting frustrated with Mrs. Price and the other candidates who don't have Twitter accounts.

Candidates who shun Twitter as being too superficial or elitist miss the point that it's a no-cost, low-effort medium for directly reaching out to voters.  Those who embrace it --- tweeting "early and often" --- may find they get a bump in recognition from opinion-shapers, the news media and like-minded supporters from other districts. Especially for candidates who are challenging well-known incumbents, the extra notice could go a long way.