What happens when young people who use social networking try to run for office? Well, it’s not pretty:

Last spring Emanuel Pleitez, 26, ran for California’s 32nd Congressional seat in a special election to replace Hilda Solis, the new secretary of labor.

During the campaign, one of Pleitez’s opponents, California State Sen. Gil Cedillo, discovered photos from Pleitez’s Facebook profile that showed Pleitez hanging around with various women at parties. The Cedillo campaign used the photos as the basis for a mailer that was sent to homes in the district. The mailer presented Pleitez as a partier, drinker and womanizer, among other smears.

[Link via Techdirt]