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Online Town Hall a Positive Step for Democracy

Format shows administration is serious about opening government

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 26, 2009 4:41 PM CDT

(Newser) – Sure, President Obama’s online town hall meeting today ended up being mostly like a normal press conference, writes Jose Antonio Vargas for the Washington Post, with Obama answering mostly “predictable” questions with “tried-and-tested policy responses.” What makes the event important is that the president was asked questions that received the most votes, with little White House filtering.

Such an opening of government, via the Internet, is a big step for US democracy. It signals that the administration has found “a place for the crowd-sourcing, here-comes-everybody ethos of the Web to be a part of the governing dialogue,” Vargas writes. “The president himself just proved it.”

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President Barack Obama takes part in an Internet town hall meeting today. (AP Photo)

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During the first ever online White House town hall meeting, President Barack Obama answered a question submitted online about legalizing Marijuana to boost the economy. (CBS)

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If this didn't prove that there's an energized and engaged citizenry willing to reach out online, nothing will.
- Jose Antonio Vargas

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Online Town Hall a Positive Step for Democracy