MySpace and MTV brought a whole new level of accountability to a presidential townhall format Thursday. Technology has given voters more ways to ask candidates questions, but this was the first time they could rate the answers in real time using an online widget on MySpace.
New Hampshire college students asked questions ranging from genocide to health care during the hour long interview with vice presidential candidate John Edwards. Edwards wore jeans for the occasion and stood on a small platform featuring a screaming mouth bursting amid red and white rays with students surrounding him.
Host Gideon Yago invited online viewers to use the polling widget on MySpace to show "if you're feeling spun or inspired by his answers." Chris Cillizza, a political blogger for the Washington Post, announced that Edwards' answer to a question about Katrina recovery was a hit online, with most viewers giving giving him a thumbs up and 63 percent saying he had good ideas.
Afterwards Edwards learned that overall he gained a thumbs up rating from 92 percent of the more than 23,000 people voting. Edwards said if 100 percent of the people agreed with him, he'd be nervous, because anytime 100 percent agree with you, "it means you're not saying much."
The interview was webcast live at noon on MySpace and will be broadcast on MTV Thursday night. Other candidates will also be interviewed for these dialogues, but MySpace has not announced who will be next. Jeff Berman, MySpace's senior vice president of public affairs, said Edwards was the first candidate interviewed because he was the first to agree to the format.
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