T-Paw forum: The remedy for the Obama faux Facebook townhall

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty,
on right, at CPAC

Yesterday morning I posted about President Obama's townhall meeting on Facebook, which will take place this afternoon--and I included a list of suggested queries--courtesy of the Workforce Fairness Institute. But alas, it appears none of them will make it through the firewall set up by the Cult of Change. Over at Hot Air, Ed Morrissey proposes a remedy for the Aux Facebook town hall:

Facebook has offered its platform to politicians of both parties for splashy townhall events. For instance, Tim Pawlenty conducted live townhalls and made live video announcements on Facebook. Sarah Palin uses Facebook as her main communications platform, although that doesn't appear to involve much effort from Facebook's corporate staff. As one GOP consultant for Arnold Schwarzenegger told Politico, snagging a presidential event is a boon under any circumstances.

Still, with Obama's popularity waning, this event will fall short of the cachet of Obama’s efforts in 2008. Facebook events also have another problem, which is that of moderation. Thanks to the strict controls that a campaign can place on questions, they tend to be self-congratulatory affairs, where questions that only play to a candidate's strength are allowed through. In live townhalls, the questions are usually more spontaneous, although this administration's team at its allies have been rather adept at planting questioners in live events, too. Facebook won't benefit from the exposure if the townhall event ends up with all the drama of a Rotary Club awards dinner.

If you have a critical question for Obama, don't expect it to get through today, even if you do leave the question at the White House entry form. Instead, Tim Pawlenty wants to take those questions himself on his website, where he will presumably answer those questions that fall outside the "how come America doesn't appreciate your awesome awesomeness, Mr. President?"

Here's the question I asked Obama. It will not be answered:

SEIU's former president, Andy Stern, says his union spent $60.7 million to get you elected in 2008. What did SEIU get in return?

In case you think I'm picking on the president, here's what he wrote in Audacity of Hope: "So I owe those unions. When their leaders call, I do my best to call them back right away." In 2008, Obama vowed to "paint the nation purple" with SEIU's color.

Related posts:

CPAC: Blogger meeting with Pawlenty

Confront Obama about unions during tomorrow's Facebook townhall

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