MySpace partners with NBC, MSNBC for political convention contest

MySpace's political initiatives didn't end with the primaries: the News Corp.-owned social network has unveiled a contest in conjunction with NBC News and MSNBC.com in anticipation of the major parties' campaign conventions.

Part of the Decision '08 initiative between MySpace and NBC News, it's a competition to choose MySpace's "citizen journalist" correspondents at the major parties' national conventions later this summer.

Entrants, who must be MySpace members who are 18 years or older, must answer one of the following questions via a video submission: "Why do you vote?" "Why are you the best person for this job?" and "How will you stand out in the crowd and get the scoop no one else can?" Entries open at noon Pacific time on Thursday, and close on July 16.

Contest judges will be MSNBC personalities Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist, as well as MySpace president Tom Anderson (yes, that Tom) and Lee Brenner, director of the site's "Impact" political activism section. They'll choose five finalists, from whom two winners will be chosen by members of MySpace.

Convention reports, both text and video, from the two winning "journalists," will then be featured in MySpace and MSNBC's campaign coverage.

[JosephSShields]

even close? This is important and the public needs this information. Perhaps more crucially, what are their mental health histories?

I understand that John McCain was tortured for five years in a Vietnamese POW camp. There have been indications that he was beaten in the head and that he actually hanged himself while a POW. Assuming he has been treated for post traumatic stress syndrome what is his medical /psychiatric status? What medications does he take or how has he been treated for these issues? Has or does he receive counseling and treatment or is he hiding a problem by denying it exists?

John McCain appears to have verbal impulse control issues which are showcased in internationally when he sang a song about ?bombing Iran? and when he made comments about killing people in the middle East by increasing our cigarette exports to the region.

I believe we learned too little, too late about G.W. Bush?s cocaine abuse and subsequent alcoholism. Had we known more about G.W.?s psychiatric issues, how many impulsive or wrong headed decisions could have been avoided ? We don?t need an afflicted individual being placed into power as POTUS only to be potentially exploited by insider political executives and foreign governments without the knowledge of the citizens of the U.S.A.