The President’s Online Town Meeting was bigger and had a lot more production values. But mine was earlier.

Two years ago, I launched a project (Listening to America’s Next Generation) to engage today’s online generation in an electronic version of an old-fashioned town meeting. It’s because of that experience that I think the President’s new initiative is something our democracy needs.

Ask voters what’s on their minds and they’ll tell you. The President heard, rather famously, about marijuana legalization. He also got questions that should probably have been posed to a local school board (“Mr President What are you going to do about local public schools cutting enrichment programs (arts, science, PE) due to the budget issues? While we need to increase our education levels, yet we see less dollars for schools. Thanks Sunnyvale_mom”)

In my web dialogue, questions ranged from the really local (“Is it possible to increase frequency of bus routes in the area? Alternatively, does the cost outwiegh the benefit of increasing bus routes in the Route 1/Fort Hunt/Mount Vernon Area?”) to the global (“The state should examine a way to provide universal health care.”)

These online town meetings will never replace other media events. But they sure are a great way to talk with–and, more important, listen to–voters.