Opinion: Virtual town hall meeting uses old technology

Around 6:45 p.m. April 25, I received a telephone call from U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. Well, it was a recording at that point, inviting me to a town hall meeting. Except, this meeting was in progress – on the telephone – and I could join it by staying on the line. It sounded interesting, so I hung around. I’m usually a sucker for telephone surveys and the like, being a user of such data.

Then, Blunt’s live voice came through the earpiece. He was responding to a question from a Joplin resident about the high cost of oil. After defending the need for gasoline taxes to support oil industry infrastructure, Blunt welcomed the more than 8,000 people on the line for this, his first virtual town hall meeting via telephone.

“Wow, 8,000 southwest Missourians at his fingertips,” I thought, “that’s impressive.”

Then Blunt explained how, if we pressed a number, we could possibly ask him a question.

I heard questions and suggestions from five individuals; three from Joplin, one from Springfield and one from McDonald County. Topics covered the oil prices and possibly reducing or eliminating fuel taxes; immigration and the need to monitor, even tax, income before it is wired to a worker’s homeland; and jobs and the good economy in southwest Missouri.

A few minutes into the meeting, Blunt announced that there were now 9,000 listeners on board, adding that in all his years in politics, he’d never had 9,000 citizens attend a traditional town hall meeting.

“What an ingenious idea,” I thought, then my mind raced with questions: Where has this been done before? Is this a trend of politicians … Republican and Democrat? How were the callers selected? Were the questioners screened? Was the whole thing scripted, like President Bush has been accused of during his town hall meetings?

I went to the Web for some answers.

These tele-town hall meetings are just getting started, though it’s mostly Republicans who have embraced the idea.

According to a March 8 blog post at The Hotline, National Journal’s daily political briefing, Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Calif., has led the way. Reps. David Dreier, R-Calif., and John Kline, R-Minn., quickly followed suit; both held tele-town hall meetings in March.

The new technology allows legislators to poll citizens and to collect demographic information and more. The practice has caught some flack in Minnesota, where the Minnesota Republican Watch has thrown red flags for privacy concerns. A tele-town hall run by Kline up north last month was used to poll pre-selected constituents about certain issues, linking their answers to their telephone numbers and other personal information. The watchdog group wants to know how Kline will use that info.

Another knock is that these tele-meetings seem to include a group predetermined by the legislator. Furthermore, the legislator gets to be selective in who asks questions and for how long they can speak.

Now, Blunt did not conduct any polls, and he seemed fairly open to constituent commentary. But I could see where problems may arise.

Still, the idea is fascinating, using an old technology, the telephone, in such a new political format.

The telephone meeting was not without glitches, however, as is many-a-first-time event. Blunt incorrectly stated several first names of questioners, and the telephone connection became shoddy at times. To his credit, Blunt acknowledged and apologized for the name slip-ups, and he vowed to improve on it for the next meeting.

Additional citizen questions were accepted via voicemail following the meeting.

The call concluded about 7:10 with this: “The common sense level in southwest Missouri is quite a bit higher than it is in Washington, D.C. I like to get back for a dose as often as I can.”

What this tells me is that politicians are advancing with the times. Let’s hope that the technology is not abused but simply used to better connect with constituents.

More political business

After publishing “Office Politics: Local businessmen are seeking a spot in the political limelight,” an April 24 cover story about a few southwest Missouri businessmen who are entering political races, SBJ has heard from a couple of other candidates.

The focus of the first article was on those businessmen new to the political game. Business and politics have always crossed, and this is just another sign, another wave.

Four of the five interviewed were business owners, and all happened to be Republicans. After discovering this, the reporter made his best effort to turn up Democratic business owners throwing their hats in races. However, he came up empty, cross-checking opponent names against the secretary of state’s registered agent list.

Since then, we’ve received an e-mail from attorney Douglas Harpool, a phone call from WoodPyles Media’s Joe Pyles and an office visit from paramedic Jamie Schoolcraft and his campaign team.

Harpool is the Democratic candidate looking to overtake incumbent Republican Sen. Norma Champion for the 30th District. Harpool served in the General Assembly from 1983 to 1992.

Republican Pyles recently started his media company and now is running for the House 139th District seat left vacant by Rep. Brad Roark, who is running for Greene County presiding commissioner. Roark’s mother, Karen, and Shane Schoeller also are Republican primary candidates.

Schoolcraft, a CoxHealth paramedic and ambulance supervisor – one of five overseeing 240 employees – is on the other side of the ticket for the 139th District.

SBJ will track these primary races and see how these businessmen fare in politics.

Eric Olson is SBJ editor.