Bully Pulpit

Obama Heads to Facebook

For online town hall with Mark Zuckerberg.

Poke him and you might get a visit from the Secret Service: President Obama is visiting the Facebook headquarters in Silicon Valley Wednesday to host a webcast on the economy with Mark Zuckerberg. It’s the latest foray into politics for the social network, which is getting its bearings in Washington: Facebook is building an office in D.C. that looks like a hacker’s lair, with walls of faux construction rubble. Still, the company spent just $351,000 on lobbying last year, compared with Google’s $5.2 million, and talks to hire former White Press Secretary Robert Gibbs fell apart after word leaked to the press. The company may also earn some critics on Capitol Hill because it appears willing to go along with Chinese censorship.