President Barack Obama kicked off his "Open For Questions" online town hall on Thursday telling his in-person audience in the East Room of the White House and thousands who watched via webcast that the event was an "experiment" that began to advance the campaign promise he made to open up the White House to the American people. "What matters to you and your families and what people here in Washington are focused on are not always one in the same," he said.
Vice President Joe Biden's chief economist Jared Bernstein facilitated the discussion, reading the most popular questions submitted and voted on by Internet users. He said over 92,000 people submitted over 100,000 questions and cast over 3.5 million votes. This isn't the first time a president has answered questions on the Internet. Former President Bill Clinton launched an "Ask The White House" feature and George W. Bush continued the the program during his term. Those who monitoring technology and politics said previous attempts were laudable but Obama's offering is most definitely "Web 2.0."
About halfway through the event, Obama acknowledged the elephant in the room -- the fact that a number of high-ranked Web questions tied legalizing marijuana to economic improvements and job creation. "I don't know what this says about the online audience," Obama laughed. "The answer is no, I don't think that is a good strategy to grow our economy." He can thank a grassroots mobilization effort by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws for all the Mary Jane queries.
Update: More than 67,000 people watched the event online, the White House said.
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