The next presidential dialogue for the MySpace/MTV crowd is set. It's October 29th in Cedar Rapids. Information here at the Flektor-Blog. Why is this important?

The inaugural MySpace / MTV Presidential Dialogue, with former Senator John Edwards, reached a wide audience on-air, online and on mobile phones. Held September 27 at the University of New Hampshire, the event was broadcast live on MySpace and www.ChooseorLose.com, and since its online premiere, has been streamed approximately 350,000 times. The on-air broadcast (7-8 pm ET) was the #1 program for viewers aged 18-24 across all of cable for the time period, and was seen by a total of nearly two million viewers overall (all ages). Nearly 2,300 questions were submitted for Senator Edwards by online viewers during the course of the one hour Dialogue. Adding to its historical significance, the Dialogue with John Edwards was the first-ever Presidential forum to be broadcast live on mobile phones, via MTV Mobile.

That's a lot of young voters, and Edwards and Obama are getting first crack at them. There are Republicans that will be a part of the process, but it's clearly not as big of a deal. Republican candidates should be clamoring to get in front of this audience, and they're not.

Some of us may think it's because MTV is so liberal. Well, the liberals think MySpace is dominated by Murdoch rightwingers, and it's not stopping them. It's a space we need to be more active in, and if you any influence on a candidate, now is the time to be speaking up.

Flektor's polling tool has been a good story, and there's more to come after the event. Full disclosure: Flektor is a client of mine, but in this case, I'm posting not to push Flektor, but to let conservatives know there are tools and events out there we should be taking advantage of.

An excellent example is Doug Ross's Journal, and his post on Unintended Consequences, which discussed the wiretapping law and the holdup by the Democrats. I took his post and made it into a video, complete with music from Chopin and some slick transitions. Took me thirty minutes. If you are struggling to come up with online content - check out Flektor. It's free, and easy to use and embed on your site.

And for Obama's event. Here's a chance to hear him speak in an hour long format. It's a lot of information, and gives you a much better sense of what you're up against. Edwards event was a real eye-opener. It wasn't all soundbites and set piece speeches, which itself is extraordinary in presidential campaigns.