Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s radio series of 30 “fireside chats” was a key way to connect the presidency to homes across the nation in 1933 and 1934. More than 75 years later, President Obama is using Google+ to “Hangout” with his constituents.
In his ongoing series paying respect to the New Deal broker, Obama’s “Fireside Hangout” starts Thursday at 4:50pm ET (1:50pm PT). The President will answer questions from Americans nationwide concerning his fourth State of the Union address, which took place Monday night.
Obviously no stranger to the Internet, Obama has a history of digital prowess and social media savvy. He knows how to captizlize on a viral meme, can overload Reddit with an AMA, and has long trounced his political opponents in Twitter outreach (even his best fake Twitter account has an unreasonably high number of followers).
To be sure, the President’s culturally attuned staff is helping him every step of the way. After all, it was unprecedented social tools and data crunching that helped him secure his second term.
So if you have something you want to say about the President’s State of the Union address, or just want to watch the dialogue in real time, be sure to jump in the Hangout this afternoon. You can also see it at http://youtube.com/whitehouseand http://wh.gov.
As of publication time, the number of confirmed attenddess of the virtual Q&A is nearing 24,000 Google users, and that number is likely to keep climbing as the kickoff time nears.
