Democrat Edwards into MySpace, MTV campaigning

DURHAM, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Democrat John Edwards stepped into the Internet world of MySpace and MTV on Thursday as the first of the U.S. presidential contenders to campaign live and online on the Web sites hugely popular with American youth.

The former U.S. senator, who is running third among Democrats in most presidential public opinion polls, answered questions on domestic and international issues while viewers submitted queries online and registered their reactions in a live poll.

The high-tech, youth-oriented forum was staged at the University of New Hampshire a day after Edwards and seven other Democratic candidates debated at Dartmouth College, also in New Hampshire, traditionally the first U.S. state to cast votes to choose the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees.

Edwards earned high scores throughout the event hosted by MySpace.com, where people can post their profiles online, and MTV.com, the online arm of the music video television channel.

Among participants in the live poll, 69 percent said he had "good ideas," 13 percent said he "understands reality" and 8 percent said he "answered questions." Five percent said he had the "wrong ideas," 1 percent said he was "out of touch" and 1 percent said he "dodged questions."

"Senator Edwards, as the poll reflected, answered the questions," said Jeff Berman, senior vice president at MySpace.com. "For most people who aren't tuned into politics or who are turned off by politics, that's a big deal."

Other Democrats, including New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson have agreed to participate in future forums, as have Republicans Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Arizona Sen. John McCain, MySpace said.

Specific numbers on how many people watched or participated were not immediately available, Berman said.