Clinton, Huckabee Present Closing Arguments on Next MTV/MySpace Dialogue

MTV is about to announce that on Saturday, February 2nd, Hillary Clinton and Mike Huckabee will both participate in the ongoing MTV/MySpace Candidate Dialogues. Billed as a "Super-Dialogue," the event will offer any candidate polling with at least 10% support to address the MTV/MySpace audience, however only Clinton and Huckabe have accepted thus far.

Regular readers know that I think these dialogues are the most impressive use of the social web this cycle in creating real interaction between the public and the candidates. MTV's use of live-polling, unscripted questions, and on-line audience feedback represent the most dynamic public forum on the campaign trail. They are to the much-touted CNN/YouTube debates what CNN/YouTube is to traditional broadcast debates.

Originally, MTV and MySpace planned to air forums with all the candidates on the trail before the Iowa Caucus. That didn't work as planned, and only John McCain, John Edwards, and Barack Obama participated before the Hawkeye state cast their votes. Now, with February 5th - Super (Fat) Tuesday - approaching, Clinton and Huckabee will get their chance to address the nation's young voters.

Clinton is looking to eat away at Obama's base, as she did in New Hampshire. If she can capture enough of the youth vote, she could cripple Obama in the race for delegates. Huckabee, who won the youth vote in evangelical-heavy Iowa and South Carolina, is looking to do much the same: keep up his lead among young evangelicals, and prevent McCain or Romney from gaining ground among youth.

The program will air:

• Broadcast live on MTV, MTV2 and MTV Tr3ìs, with highlights on college network mtvU
• Streamed live online via MySpace (www.myspace.com/election2008) and MTV’s www.ChooseOrLose.com
• Distributed live to the Associated Press Online Video Network, encompassing more than 1,800 media sites with an aggregate reach of 61 million unique visitors – and nearly 600 local media outlets in Super Tuesday states
• Streamed live on mobile devices via MTV Mobile
• Broadcast live on radio via XM Satellite Radio, MTV and AP Radio
• Translated into Spanish and broadcast on ImpreMedia’s LaVibra (www.lavibra.com/candidatos)
• Live studio audience participating at MTV’s Times Square studio

The event will be here in NYC, so I'll be live-blogging from the studio audience.