A virtual YouTube town hall?
posted at 5:30 pm on August 8, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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I guess if your opponent won’t meet you for town-hall debates, you start finding new ways to conduct them yourself. The John McCain campaign rolled out what they call the Virtual Town Hall Meeting on their YouTube channel, which allows viewers to get answers to commonly asked questions — such as, “What do you think about the future of this country?” (Hint: He’ll work to restore the American dream.)
This isn’t so much an interactive experience as much as it is a handy list of topics by which to sort through McCain’s YouTubes by topic. That’s certainly handy enough, relieving surfers from having to do a search on the website on various topics. Of course, that also means viewers will only see the clips approved by the McCain campaign. Also, two of the five questions are softball non-issue questions like “What do you think about the future of this country?” and “How do you feel about government spending?”
It’s an interesting idea – and perhaps the McCain campaign could use this to move to the next level of interactivity. Why not ask for response videos from voters on these issues, and answer the most intelligent of them? Fred Thompson tried this for a couple of weeks on the campaign trail and generated a lot of enthusiasm. McCain could heighten the sense of a “virtual town hall meeting” by taking a few YouTube questions and have people repeatedly checking for the updates.
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I didnt know youtube had this capability. That’s pretty cool.
But you’re right. McCain should let people post questions and answer them. That’d be pretty smart.
lorien1973 on August 8, 2008 at 5:34 PM
Sure beats Pork Invaders.
DanStark on August 8, 2008 at 5:36 PM
This is just the beginning. Seems more of a test run. Lets see what Obama does. . . (time warp) ok, I just went to Obamas virtual thingy, all his lead to the same video.
- The Cat
MirCat on August 8, 2008 at 5:42 PM
It actually was just put in like … 2-4 weeks ago now. It’s a pretty new feature.
apollyonbob on August 8, 2008 at 5:46 PM
This isn’t the YouTube I thought I knew.
leftnomore on August 8, 2008 at 5:54 PM
How dare you, Obama will debate any 7 year old, anytime, anywhere, aslong as he knows the questions before hand.
Rbastid on August 8, 2008 at 5:57 PM
Where’s the link for questions from snowmen?
e-pirate on August 8, 2008 at 6:02 PM
Since the big “0″ won’t debate, McCain should put up one of these with 0’s answers clipped from various video.
It could actually be pretty funny!
dung.
Moose Dung on August 8, 2008 at 6:12 PM
Sweet!
SouthernGent on August 8, 2008 at 6:14 PM
Eh, this is okay, but it would still be better if Mac did as some of us have already suggested and had a real live town hall meeting with an empty chair, with an empty suit hanging from it to represent Obama.
Buy Danish on August 8, 2008 at 6:22 PM
Surprised Obama isn’t all over this. He would claim he was doing town halls and edit out all the Uhhhhs, Ummmms, Errrrs, Eeeees.
cntrlfrk on August 8, 2008 at 6:30 PM
I am still so annoyed at Sen. Obama getting to be “the decider” on these debates. I went on line to find that stupid committee’s website and of course there is no way to contact them. I mean nothing. So I settled for writing to the McCain Campaign website which will probably only result in a request for cash.
Cindy Munford on August 8, 2008 at 7:36 PM
I’d prefer a face off between sock puppets. A gray wrinkly one for McCain and a light brown one for Obama.
Seriously, it isn’t a bad way to direct the YouTube crowd to McCain’s talking point on carefully selected and generic subjects. An electronic index to his vanilla stump speech. Not a bad approach if you think there are people aged 18+ who are out there searching YouTube to decide who to vote for.
highhopes on August 8, 2008 at 7:37 PM
Cool! I posted it on my FB, which I’m beginning to actually find quite useful politically.
Connie on August 8, 2008 at 8:10 PM
This youtube technology is a step forward, but it still feels like a bland brochure.
LimeyGeek on August 8, 2008 at 8:17 PM
This is a great suggestion for the campaign! I hope he takes your advice.
Jill1066 on August 8, 2008 at 8:32 PM
Romney already did this.
therightwinger on August 8, 2008 at 9:17 PM
I just saw a McCain ad on the olympics telecast.
Chudi on August 8, 2008 at 9:52 PM
Great idea, Ed.
slp on August 8, 2008 at 10:37 PM
Ed, you just had to remind me. ;-)
[I used to work for Fred Thompson.]
seanhackbarth on August 9, 2008 at 5:56 AM
It’s going to be real tough for John McCain to explain his involvement and that of his campaign manager Rick Davis and how they have helped to facilitate a merger that could result in the loss of thousands of jobs in Ohio.
There goes the neighborhood and the American Dream.
Kiss Ohio goodbye; Johnny Mc!
J_Gocht on August 9, 2008 at 9:26 AM
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