Following in the virtual footsteps of the UN, the Red Cross, Save Darfur, Reuters, and countless other groups, Congress is taking the plunge into Second Life.

This Thursday, at noon ET, Rep. George Miller (CA) and Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi will join Joanne Colan of Rocketboom at the Virtual Capitol Hill in Second Life.

Check out this video preview of the virtual Hill:

This promises to be an interesting event. How many people will show up? Will we hear a few canned speeches or will we witness some genuine human spontaneity? Will any resident be able to interact with Nancy Pelosi, or will she be protected by big, scary avatars?

This won't be the first political foray into Second Life; former Virginia Governor Mark Warner showed up there months ago, to mixed reviews. But while some people have been questioning the accuracy of the Second Life's claims of over two million users (Clay Shirky suggests there are only 10,000 on the site at any given time), political geeks like me have been getting more and more excited about activism in the virtual space (my colleague Micah Sifry is more skeptical).

The event is co-sponsored by Clear Ink and Sun Microsystems. If you have an account on Second Life, go here to be teleported to the event.

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Tags: congress, mark warner, pelosi, second life

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