Obama, the internet is cool, but the everyone has a phone, Do a Telephone Townhall Meeting

"Hold please, The President of the United States will be on the line momentarilly....."  Imagine if you got that call?

Much has been made of the Obama campaign's Internet prowess and now much is being written about if, how, and when the Obama presidency will become the "Chosen one"?  Chosen in so much as he will use cool Internet stuff (YouTube, interactive decision making tools, etc..) to "open up" government to the people.  

Never mind that not every American has a Blackberry, iPhone, or simply a laptop at home.

Get a grip people.  Technology is simply a tool.   Presidents have used technology for a long time for two purposes:

1. Get elected
2. Get their agenda passed and implemented

Remember the radio?  How about Television?   

Technology has been around for a long time and it is always and always will be subservient to the goals and wishes of the President.  If technology can be helpful to meet a President's goals, he'll use it.   If not, well it is simply a tool he'll choose not to use.

Which brings me to the subject of this post.   The telephone.   The good old trusty telephone.  Used in a relatively new way:  The Telephone Town Hall  (TTH) Meeting.

Unfortunately for Democrats, this is one area where their GOP counterparts are way ahead on use.  About half of the GOP members of Congress use TTH meetings and they love them (mostly because they are paid for by taxpayer $ as they are considered constituent communications and therefore covered by the Franking Commission)  A few Democrats are using them.  Rep. Kind (D-WI) had one this week.

Perhaps Obama, the technology president, could show the GOP how it is really done?  (McCain used them during his campaign in several states, including this one in FL)

So, what is a TTH?  Essentially think of it as a massive conference call for a selected group of people that you decide to include.  Just like you may attend a telephone seminar for business, many politicians are using them now to conduct TTH meetings with their constituents.   You could call a few thousand people, or, call an entire state, region or the country (well, maybe not, but I'm sure that a telecom company would like that contract).

How do they work?

1. A TTH is scheduled.   They are either advertised in a district or not.
2. A robocall is made to XXX number of phone numbers.   The robocall tells the listener that if they would like they can stay on the line to participate in an interactive telephone meeting with their elected representative.  If not, they can simply hang up.
3. If they stay on the line, the politician, in this case, Obama, would be able to talk to the listeners about whatever he would like.  
4. Interactive:  Then, just like a town hall meeting in real life, Obama could take questions from the participants and answer them real time (or, they could be scripted).

Wait, Shaun!  A Robocall?   Isn't that what you are trying to eliminate or regulate?  How could you be condoning the phone spam of American voters by the President?

Yes and No.   While most TTH meetings are done with robocalls, there are a few progressive thinking Congresspeople (for example Virginia Foxx (R-NC) who use TTH meetings but only allow constituents to call in to their meeting, rather than robocalling out.

But, yes, most TTH meetings are done in a robocall spam execution and that is an issue.  

We'd like to see best practices used by politicians:

1. Don't robocall.  Advertise ahead of the TTH meeting the day, time and phone number to call.
2. If you do robocall, give citizens a way to opt out of the call in the future if that is what they wish to do.   As a bonus, have a website where citizens can go and add themselves to your specific "do not call" list.

So, what could Obama do?  The possibilities are endless.   Imagine if he wanted to sell the stimulus plan?  His staff could (should be doing right now) be researching how the various aspects of the bill impact specific groups, regions, states, cities, etc...   He could then schedule a series of TTH meetings for these groups and advertise a phone number for people to call into.   He could take questions ahead of time via voice mail or online at Whitehouse.gov.   Or, he could take live questions from listeners on the TTH.

How cool would that be?   Imagine being on a TTH with the President of the United States?   It is much more intimate than a website or the TV.  You, YOU!, were on the phone with OBAMA!

If you were not inclined to support him, perhaps you would now.

If you did support him now you are going to call your congressman and ask them to do what Obama wants.

If you love Obama, you will really really love him now.

What do you think Barack?   Is there a TTH meeting in your future?  It is not quite community organizing on the South Side of Chicago, but it is a way to get you out of the bubble that is now your life.