Candidates taking their cases to the young & wired

The program, co-sponsored with MySpace and the Associated Press, offered the presidential contenders from both major parties a direct conduit to young voters days before voting begins in Tuesday’s slate of more than 20 primaries and caucuses.

Clinton eventually took part. Her Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, participated, too, along with Republicans Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.

The GOP frontrunners, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney declined.

Clinton, the fourth candidate to appear, started her segment with an apology to MTV’s viewers, members of a demographic that has been a large part of Obama’s constituency. “We had a lot of problems to get here,” she said.

But the voters in the New York studio audience, as well as those who submitted questions over the Internet via e-mail and instant messaging, didn’t show concerns about that. Instead, they raised questions about issues facing the young.

They also pressed the candidates on jump-starting the economy, several areas of foreign relations and, for Clinton, whether Taiwan should be admitted to the World Health Organisation — a diplomatically risky step that probably would anger China.

“Every country in the world should be in the public health network that WHO represents,” Clinton said. “We saw when SARS and the bird flu was a problem, starting in Asia, how important it was to have a (health) surveillance system. It’s not very sensible or wise to leave anybody out.”

Obama was asked about how he deals with an e-mail campaign that falsely claims he was raised a Muslim and does not acknowledge the American flag.

“It is part of the politics of fear that I want to end,” Obama said, speaking from Minneapolis.

Huckabee, a Southern Baptist minister, was pressed about what role his faith would play in the White House.

“Faith is not in conflict with doing what is right,” Huckabee said from Alabama.