My friend Rey Ramsey may finally be making the political moves that many of us have been waiting for him to make for around 25 years.

He sent around an e-mail today to announce that his nonprofit organization, One Economy Corporation, is about to launch an online "social media web property." It's called 247townhall.org, and the "Portland version" of it is here.

I'm not sure at first glance what this site is (other than slow to load) -- a blog? A MySpace? A chat room? All of the above? It's going to be a political video site as well. Ramsey points out:

This Friday, June 22nd at 9am PDT, we will webcast a town hall meeting live from New Orleans on Poverty in America. I will be hosting the event with appearances by Senator Hillary Clinton, former Governor Mitt Romney, former HUD Secretary Jack Kemp, James Carville, and other leaders who will offer their thoughts on poverty alleviation in the 21st century. Those who watch the event online have the opportunity to send in questions for our speakers. We anticipate an engaging discussion and would appreciate your virtual attendance on Friday at 9am PDT. To participate, simply go to http://portland.247townhall.org and you will see a large banner for the live event. Click that banner and it will take you directly to the webcast and interactive features related to the event.

For me the real punchline is buried elsewhere in the announcement: "As a fellow Oregonian, I believe that this site will contribute to the improvement of our communities by providing people with the tools to create content and engage with others on issues important to all of us." The "fellow Oregonian" thing is a little like Hillary's "fellow lifelong Yankee fan" thing. Rey keeps a condo in the Pearl, but he spends most of his time in D.C., where One Economy is based.

He'll be running for something in Oregon soon, and showing off his many world-class "progressive" friends won't hurt a bit.