I opened up my iGoogle page this weekend and saw President Obama in the “YouTube Spotlight Video” section. Expecting some kind of statement about the Iran election situation, or perhaps some kind of commentary on the South Carolina Governor’s affair or even on the passing of Michael Jackson, I was thrilled to hear him start talking about health care reform.

If you haven’t seen this video yet, go here now: http://bit.ly/Zqy7a

As of 5:30 PST on Sunday, June 28, over 44,000 people have watched the YouTube video from the President.

Obama takes about 1 minute and 37 seconds of his time to INVITE QUESTIONS from the “American people” about health care and health care reform. On so many levels, Obama embraces the ideas of conversation and community- cornerstones of the online/ social media/ blogging community. I love that he is soliciting questions from people on the internet, and he has a real opportunity to live up to what he is saying, because he isn’t saying he will answer every question or even that he has all of the answers.

He closes his video with this:

“Real change doesn’t come from Washington, it comes from the American people. And we won’t be able to achieve reform without you. So America, tell me what you want to know about heath care reform and I’ll do my best to answer your questions. I look forward to hearing from you.”

And you know, I believe him. I can’t believe I am sitting in my apartment, hearing my President tell me on YouTube that he wants to hear my questions about health care reform. And I REALLY can’t believe that I believe him. In fact, I have no doubt that somebody will watch all of the videos and Obama will draft some responses with his staff and then actually have an online town hall this week. Which is AMAZING!

I remember being told as a student how JFK was the first to understand the power of TV, and that Nixon’s failure to understand the medium and play to the cameras, notably through his “5 o’clock shadow” at a debate, was a big part of his losing the campaign. The power of a politician to get a message across and make an impact through media is astonishing.

The way that the Obama campaign utilized social media and community organizing during the election season is apparently carrying over into his time in the White House. For all of the promises that elected officials routinely make and then break, I think this makes Obama stand out as someone who LIVES what he believes in rather than making and keeping/breaking promises. Obama is about listening, community, conversation and strong, forward-looking action. He gathers information and then makes his call, which is how all of the best leaders I’ve ever worked with operate.

Cheers to him on this one.

On Wednesday, July 1, he says he will answer some of the most popular questionsduring an online town hall- I plan to be there and listen to what he has to say. Afterall, he is listening, which is the first step toward any real conversation.

If you want to ask the President a question, there is a video response tutorial here: http://bit.ly/fZf0i