Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Obama holds digital public forum

By on January 29, 2012

Tomorrow, citizens from across the U.S. will participate in the nation’s first completely-virtual interview from the White House.

At 5:30 p.m. President Barack Obama will answer questions submitted from American citizens via the White House’s YouTube channel. Viewers who watched the submissions over the past week voted on the questions.

President Barack Obama

According to a White House press release, the most popular questions will be played for the president to answer during the virtual town hall. Some of the submitters will be invited to a Google+ Hangout with the President to ask those questions live.

The President stated in a press release about the event that he aims to make legislation to reward companies for keeping jobs at home, invest in homegrown energy and “build an economy that works for everyone.”

He also stated that he knows people have questions and is ready to hear them.

Though the deadline to submit questions and vote ended Jan. 28, viewers can still watch the virtual town hall on Monday. The video campaign, part of a “Blueprint for an America that is built to last,” received 133,255 questions from 227,966 people with 1,630,870 votes.

Results of the interview will be posted on the White House’s YouTube page.

Some of the most popular questions available to view on the site include questions concerning the legalization of marijuana, alternative energy, loan forgiveness and foreign policy.