After a lot of defamatory language, organized protests and outright aggression over the health care debate, studies now show online town hall meetings are a safe and effective alternative for healthy debate.
A new study by the Congressional Management Foundation shows online sessions between representatives and their constituents positively affect views of the official and political engagement.
In fact, the 13 members of Congress who participated in the study saw an 18 percent jump in approval ratings, on average.
Not only did the online town hall meetings attract a more diverse group of constituents, but they increased the probability of voting for the member.
If members of Congress had only known about this a few months earlier, there may have been a bit less heat this summer at the meetings.
