MySpace to host presidential town hall forums

MySpace, the popular Internet social-networking site, announced Thursday that it will host presidential town hall meetings this fall on college campuses across the country.

In addition to answering questions from the audience, White House hopefuls will also welcome questions from MySpace users across the world.

{mosads}“We’ve seen enormous engagement from our users on political and social issues, especially last year in the 2006 election,” Jeff Berman, senior vice president of public affairs for MySpace, told The Hill. “We keep hearing from our community that they’re sick of the same stale, canned speeches that we’re used to from politicians.”

Berman explained that users at home will be allowed to ask questions that won’t be filtered by a moderator.

“You’re going to hear questions from subjects like Iraq all the way to questions like ‘Boxers or briefs?’ or about what a candidate does on a Saturday night,” Berman said.

Judging by the response, the White House hopefuls are eager to participate.

All of the first-tier candidates from both parties have signed up to take part in the town hall meetings.

On the Democratic side, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) have agreed to take part, as has former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards. In addition, Sen. Chris Dodd (Conn.), Rep. Dennis Kucinich (Ohio) and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson will participate.

On the Republican side, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Arizona Sen. John McCain and ex-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney have all accepted an invitation, as have Sen. Sam Brownback (Kan.), former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson and Reps. Ron Paul (Texas) and Duncan Hunter (Calif.).

The town hall meetings are an extension of MySpace’s Impact initiative, a section of its site focusing on political and social issues. Berman said MySpace is exploring the possibilities of expanding its content for the general election.