MySpace Events: MTV invites you to: Presidential Candidate Dialogue with John Edwards!

Remember how taboo and controversial MTV used to be? Back in the day groups like the Moral Majority used the sex, drugs and rock and roll regularly appearing on Music Television to demonize youth culture and scare the bejeezus out of easily excitable parents. Hell, Madonna’s "Like a Prayer" video caused a complete and total nationwide hissy fit, with its burning crosses, heaving bosoms and black Jesuses. Man, Madonna was hot back then. Mmmmm…

Oops, sorry… I digress. The death knell of MTV’s rebellious reputation really rang in 1992. Candidates in the Democratic primary, still several years away from the proliferation of 24-hour news channels and desperate for any sort of national attention they could get, looked to MTV as a way to reach out to young voters .

Of course, no one used MTV to greater effect than Bill Clinton, who would later be derisively called the “MTV President” by conservative pundits and saxophone fans alike. After coming out of nowhere to win the Democratic nomination, Clinton was the first candidate from any party to go on MTV and field questions from “viewers” in an hour-long town hall style format. Fielding questions ranging from the hard-hitting (“what are your opinions on abortion rights?”) to the not-so-hard-hitting (“Boxers or briefs?”), it was a format that Clinton was born to take part in. After his eventual victory, many political scientists pointed to Clinton’s MTV appearances as a major factor in his electoral success.
For example, during the 1992 election, then-candidate Bill Clinton used both MTV to reach young Americans and the Arsenio Hall talk show to reach African-Americans in south-central Los Angeles and other areas. This was very effective, Professor Jenkins said.
"He had a chance to reach a percentage of the voters he couldn't reach during the evening news," he said. "After Clinton's appearance on MTV, America had the highest voter turnout for 18-to-24-year-olds since 18-year-olds could vote."
Thus, the formula to reach young voters ever since has been to visit MTV early and often. This holds true especially for Democrats, who don’t have to worry as much about turning off stodgy old coots (who aren’t going to vote for them anyway) by appearing in such a skin and sin-friendly environment. Some Republicans, on the other hand, see it as beneath them. Frankly, who can blame them? This is the same network that brought us My Super Sweet 16. For that alone I’d have reservations about appearing on the network and I’m a liberal Democrat from San Francisco. And don't even get me started on subjecting us to Bam Margera. Assholes. Anyway, MTV ceased to become relevant 10 years ago, so there’s no reason politicians need to keep bowing down at the Moonman altar, right?

Tell that to John Edwards. And Hillary Clinton. And Rudy Giuliani. And John McCain. And Chris Dodd. And Barack Obama. And Duncan Hunter (who actually is a presidential candidate too. Really, I looked him up!) They are among a total of 11 presidential candidates from both sides of the aisle who have signed up to participate in Presidential Candidate Dialogues with MTV. This being the internet age, MTV is co-sponsoring these Dialogues with that other twin tower of youth culture erosion: Myspace.com. Be afraid, people. Be very afraid.
MySpace, the country’s most trafficked website, and MTV, the leading global youth brand, today announced details of their first Presidential Candidate Dialogue – featuring former Senator John Edwards (http://www.myspace.com/johnedwards). The inaugural event will take place on Thursday, September 27, at 12:00 pm ET on the University of New Hampshire campus – an affiliate in mtvU’s network of more than 750 colleges and universities – and will be moderated by MTV News Correspondents SuChin Pak and Gideon Yago as well as WashingtonPost.com political reporter, Chris Cillizza. Industry-leading pollsters John McLaughlin and Geoffrey Garin will oversee the real-time polling data and audience questions being submitted via MySpaceIM and MTV.com. The kick-off event also marks the first Flektor application integration since its acquisition by Fox Interactive Media in May 2007.

“We’re providing America’s youth with unprecedented access to the top presidential candidates by empowering them to ask live questions and respond with real time polling tools,” said co-founder and CEO of MySpace, Chris DeWolfe. “The integration of Flektor will add a new dimension of rapid response and at-home engagement — we can’t wait to see it all happen live and unfiltered.”

“For the past 15 years, MTV and Choose or Lose has been the place where young people have gone to ask questions of the candidates and let their voices be heard,” said Christina Norman, President of MTV. “Through this exciting partnership with MySpace, we are taking the concept of engagement to a new level, allowing every single young person to participate in the Dialogues.”
Yep, that’s right. Tomorrow at noon EST, MySpace users will be able to see former Senator John Edwards grapple with questions they themselves submitted both prior to the event and live via instant messaging. I personally cannot wait to find out who Edwards plans on putting in his Top 8 should he get elected (I say Bill and Hillary yes, John Kerry no) and whether he would have sex with the candidate above him. Of course, there are also the pressing matters of how many illegal immigrants he’ll have on his friends list and whether he’d like to see my grindcore/emo band, Tears Rusting My Skate Trucks, at Bubba’s Crab House in Ypsilanti next Tuesday. I’m stoked, dude, here’s our flyer.

The candidates, however, may not be so stoked about the, uh… interesting interactive voting system these Dialogues will employ.
For the first time, users at home or anywhere online are empowered to immediately respond to candidate discourse with a new online polling widget powered by Flektor. Online viewers on MySpace.com or MTV.com will be able to access a simple ratings meter to indicate their approval or disapproval of a candidate’s responses as they watch the Dialogue live with instant results displayed on the screen. A “popular vote” function will allow viewers to compare their opinions against those of the entire viewing community. Poll results will be available online live during each event and archived for future viewing.

Options for approval ratings include:
• I agree
• Well argued
• Sincere/ authentic
• All of the above

Options for disapproval ratings include:
• I disagree
• Full of bull
• Scripted/ canned
• All of the above
Should be an adventure. I’d like to add the “Full of bull” rating as a friend!


Subrosa feels old.

web address: http://suicidegirls.com/news/politics/22367/MySpace-Events-MTV-invites-you-to-Presidential-Candidate-Dialogue-with-John-Edwards/