Obama Turns to Web to Bypass News Media

Published December 24, 2015

The U.S. is likely to lose more jobs during the country's economic recession, President Obama said Thursday during an Internet town hall meeting held at the White House.

"We're going to have to be patient and persistent about job creation because I don't think that we've lost all the jobs that we're going to lose in this recession," Obama said. "We're still going to be in a difficult time for much of this year."

The president turned to cyberspace Thursday for the administration's first virtual town hall meeting, hoping to deepen support for his broad and expensive assault on economic hard times.

"This is an experiment that we're trying out," Obama said of the online town hall meeting called "Open for Questions," which was streamlined over the Internet from the White House's East Room. Obama, who answered questions submitted by the American public, used the town hall meeting to tout his plans for homeowners, job creation, education reform and universal health care.

"Here in Washington, politics all too often is treated like a game...a lot of point scoring...but this isn't about me. It's about you. For the American people, what's going on is not a game."

Over 92,000 people submitted over 100,000 questions on the White House's Web site to be considered at the town hall meeting -- part of a political strategy to engage Americans directly.

Of chief concern at the town hall meeting was job creation, which Obama said is difficult in a time of economic hardship and that the work of the future should be in more high-paying, high-skill areas like clean energy technology.

When asked when Americans can expect a return of jobs that have been outsourced to other nations, the president said it will take some time -- perhaps through the rest of the year -- before vigorous hiring resumes. And that might not happen until businesses see evidence the economy is rebounding, Obama said.

The president also said that the current model for the U.S. auto industry is unsustainable and the Big Three manufacturers will have to change their ways. He said the auto industry must be preserved, not only symbolically but for the satellite industries such as suppliers. However, Obama said his job is to protect U.S. taxpayers and he wouldn't spend federal dollars on "a model that doesn't work."

Obama said sales of new vehicles had been around 14 million, a number that has dropped to 9 million during the economic downturn. In part, that was due to Americans struggling to get auto loans and fears of big-ticket purchases as jobs disappear.

The president said even as the economy bounces back, Detroit can't focus on building more SUVs and counting on low gas prices.

Obama also joked about the number of questions submitted online about legalizing marijuana, saying he did not think that was the best way to stimulate the economy.

"I don't know what this says about the online audience," Obama quipped.

Responding to a question about improving the American education system, Obama told a questioner that more money and more reform are needed. And, Obama said, greater investment in early childhood education and rewarding talented teachers would significantly improve the system. He said the current school system -- with three months off at midyear -- was designed for an agriculture society centuries ago.

Obama said the only reason he had been elected president was because of the education he received, in large part through scholarships and his family's sacrifice. Obama graduated from Columbia University and Harvard Law School.
The president took the questions most asked from a pool of more than 100,000 sent to the White House Web site by 9 a.m., as well as from the audience that was on hand for the event. Some cable television networks carried the event live.

On Wednesday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the town hall meeting was "a way for the president to do what he enjoys doing out on the road, but saves on gas."

Obama used the Internet to build a grass-roots movement that delivered the presidency and raised unheard-of money. Now in power, he is employing the same online network and style to speak -- unfiltered -- with Americans.

The president already has taken that tactic on the road, spending two days on the West Coast last week at town hall-style meetings and appearing on Jay Leno's late-night talk show. It offered easier questions and a chance to get his message to the widest possible audience.

"It's not a whole lot different than were we in California doing the meeting," Gibbs said. "It's just we'll have people hooked up from a lot of different places all over the country, but he'll be able to do all that from the East Room."

Already, the White House is connecting the old-school press conference with the new-media event. It will be an easy contrast between skeptical reporters and supporter-selected questions.
Political operatives say the White House's strategy is a way to reach a demographic key to Obama's election.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/obama-turns-to-web-to-bypass-news-media