YouTube has teamed up with the DNCC & RNCC for online video contests. The the Democrat and Republican with the most compelling video on why they’re a member of their party will be offered a trip to their respective party’s convention.

Howard Dean’s announcement of the contest is above, Interestingly, Mike Duncan’s Republican version of the announcement has about 40,000 more views.

And while you’re at it, check back Monday fort the winner of the RNC’s American Neighbor contest. Based on the minimal number of submissions so far available, including one from this guy it should be very interesting to see how they spin it.

The advancement of online video over the past four years and in particular recent developments in live video should result in a range of additional non-MSM content - don’t be surprised to see some of the independents scoop networks for convention stories come August.

Finally, some UGC thats worth talking about. Ahead of the MTV Movie Awards, scheduled for June 1st, MTV has partnered with a few major UGC sites to create the MTV Movie Award Spoof Contest.

Submissions and voting are accepted on through Photobucket, MySpace, Daily Motion, Break, Buzznet, Heavy and FunnyorDie. The deadline for submissions on partner sites is May 11th.

Personally, I think this award is already locked up by Brandon Hardesty, who has created a series of re-enactments of his favorite movies. If you haven’t seen them, you aren’t in touch with viral video.