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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The issue before the first primary in the nation is not who will win — most polls indicate that will be Mitt Romney.

Despite the blows he took at Sunday’s debate, Romney still has the most Facebook fans of all the GOP candidates at more than 1.2 million, adding nearly 5,000 new Facebook fans in the past day.

The bigger question is, who will capture second place?

Jon Huntsman appears to be the man with the momentum. Here’s a look at where the candidates fighting for second stand using Election Tracker 2012.

Jon Huntsman

While Huntsman had a strong debate performance Sunday (see his post-debate Facebook message at the end of this post), he hasn’t seen that translate to Facebook enthusiasm quite yet.

He remains in ninth place among the GOP contenders in Facebook fans, with 33,396. That’s roughly half the fans of his next closest competitor, Rick Santorum, who saw a bump in likes after his Iowa caucus win. In the past seven days, Huntsman has added 2,772 new Facebook fans.

At least someone — or three — in his family have a strong social network presence. Three daughters have taken to Twitter, @Jon2012Girls, to pump up their dad’s candidacy.

Ron Paul

Despite two polls Sunday night showing Ron Paul in second place, experts predict his New Hampshire race may be faltering as Huntsman closes in, with Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich on his heels.

Paul remains a solid second in total Facebook fans among the contenders with more than 702,329. He added 3,296 fans in just the last day, one of the highest daily totals among all elected officials.

Rick Santorum

Talk about an Iowa bump! Rick Santorum, the man who came from behind to virtually tie Romney last week, has seen his Facebook fan page growth steady. But not before garnering more than one-third of his total Facebook fans in the days following his improbable caucus showing. Will waning enthusiasm online, and lackluster debate performances, indicate a stall in his campaign?

A note about the Facebook debate: The integration of Facebook into the event coverage really worked. NBC News used the last 15 minutes of the debate to ask the candidates questions from the “Meet the Press” Facebook page, where more than 4,600 comments were shared, and posts were culled from the social network and featured on-screen during the program. (see above.)

Readers, do you plan on tracking the results of the New Hampshire primary on Facebook?

Photo: courtesy Associated Press

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Set your alarm clocks, because this debate starts Sunday at 9 a.m. Eastern Time, only two days before the nation’s first primary in the Granite State.

The audience can tune in or log on in a number of ways, in what promises to be a spirited debate following the wild finish between Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney in Iowa.

Not only will the debate stream live on the “Meet the Press” Facebook page and Facebook’s U.S. Politics page, but viewers can share questions and comment on the action throughout the event.

Care to skip the morning alarm? Facebookers can also ask their questions in advance, here. A sampling of recent questions are posted below.

The debate will also be available on-demand on the “Meet the Press” Facebook page and Facebook’s U.S. politics page.

Facebook’s U.S. politics page is offering a look behind-the-scenes in the days leading up to the battle in Concord, New Hampshire’s Chubb Theater.

The Facebook and NBC News debate will be moderated by “Meet the Press” host David Gregory, who will be joined by the New Hampshire Union Leader.

An NBC News/Marist poll of New Hampshire voters due out Friday may give a better indication of whether the man with momentum, Rick Santorum, is catching up to front-runner Mitt Romney after the virtual tie in the Iowa caucus, which should make Sunday’s action that much more interesting.

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The social networking site and the news network asked voters on Facebook about the most pressing issues facing the nation in the past month.

Facebook users could choose among the following five issues: The economy, the federal budget deficit, health care, illegal immigration and foreign policy.

The results were released today, within hours of the start of the Iowa caucus and one week before the nation’s first primary in New Hampshire.

Below is a sampling of the results from Facebook, based on regions.

New Hampshire

Economy: 58 percent
Federal Budget Deficit: 19 percent
Health Care: 11 percent
Illegal Immigration: six percent
Foreign Policy: five percent

Iowa

Economy: 57 percent
Federal Budget Deficit: 19 percent
Health Care: 12 percent
Illegal Immigration: eight percent
Foreign Policy: four percent

Nationally

Economy: 56 percent
Federal Budget Deficit: five percent
Health Care: 12 percent
Illegal Immigration: nine percent
Foreign Policy: five percent

Facebook users have also been sharing questions for the debate and interacting with others interested in the event on the sponsors’ pages.

The debate, moderated by “Meet the Press” host David Gregory, will stream live on Facebook as part of the multi-platform event. Viewers can tune in to the U.S. politics page on Facebook at at 9 a.m. Eastern Time Sunday to watch the action, post questions or comment during the debate or do the same at this MSNBC page.

The debate takes place two days before the New Hampshire primary in the historic Chubb Theater in Concord, NH. Joining the questioning will be The New Hampshire Union Leader, a mainstay of New Hampshire politics.

Elliot Schrage, vice president of global communications, marketing and public policy for Facebook, wrote a countdown to the debate on the company’s U.S. Politics page.

Do you plan to participate in Facebook’s interactive stream of the debate on Sunday?

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.