Obama wraps up first-of-its kind Internet Q&A - USATODAY.com

Obama said the precedent-setting online town hall meeting was "an important step" toward creating a broader avenue for information about his administration.

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67,000 viewers

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efore the event, potential questioners signed up on the White House website "Open for Questions." The White House said 92,931 people submitted 104,103 questions and cast 3,606,286 votes on which questions to ask.

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CNN reported that Obama answered seven questions submitted from the website and also took questions from the audience in the East Room

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In a way, it's part campaign-style politics and part American Idol, political strategist Simon Rosenberg said.

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"Barack Obama is going to reinvent the presidency the way he reinvented electoral politics," said Rosenberg, president of the New Democrat Network and a veteran of presidential campaigns. "He is allowing everyday people to participate in a way that would've been impossible in the old media world."

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