Obama Calls Yahoo Answers! Respondent

I missed this back in July (hattip PrezVid), but this is a very simple and effective way of engaging voters. Obama was not the first presidential candidate to use Yahoo Answers! That honor goes to Hillary Clinton. However, he did take the engagement process a step further.

The benefits are threefold:

The lady Obama spoke to is now almost certainly a committed Obama activist.

It demonstrates Obama’s openness and willingness to talk directly to voters, reinforcing the message that his is a genuine grassroots campaign.

Obama may also have picked up a few useful ideas to incorporate into his policy platform, the ‘Wisdom of Crowds’ in action.

Imagine if a candidate committed themselves to making one of these calls each day? The novelty would soon wear off, but the commitment to regularly engaging activists openly and honestly could have a lasting impact.

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