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# Hillary Clinton asks Yahoo; wealthy, middle class Americans reply
- URL: https://werd.io/hillary-clinton-asks-yahoo-wealthy-middle-class-americans-reply/
- Published: 2007-01-29T10:25:57.000Z
- Updated: 2025-06-12T11:01:05.000Z
- Author: Ben Werdmuller
- Tags: General, #ben-684a32da145d7d001be71dae, #Migrated-1749693130536, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-06-11 21:52

http://theinternetispeople.com/2007/01/29/hillary-clinton-asks-yahoo-wealthy-middle-class-americans-reply/

As [reported over at Bokardo](http://bokardo.com/archives/hilary-clinton-uses-yahoo-answers/), a couple of days ago [Hillary Clinton posted the following question to Yahoo Answers](http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070124144113AAVmBL1):  

At the time of writing there are over 37,000 replies to this - something I find both troubling and gratifying. ([Search Engine Journal notes](http://www.searchenginejournal.com/?p=4318) that this volume of replies makes Yahoo Answers an excellent platform.)

I find it gratifying because, quite honestly, when was the last time you saw a politican ask so openly about a major issue? This is a great way to both poll for opinions and to make a show that she will listen to voters - something that bodes well for the next national election (although I don’t, alas, think she could win).

I find it troubling because of the Internet usage demographics in the United States. Although it also notes that the digital divide is slowly closing, [this article notes that not everyone is represented on the Internet](http://www.netfreedom.org/controversy/latest/wong.asp).  

When Hillary Clinton asks the userbase of Yahoo Answers about healthcare, she’s largely excluding the people medical policies affect the most: people who can’t afford to get on the Internet. It’s a nice idea, but it’s worth remembering that while *technically* the web is a democratic medium, it’s not a *socially* democratic medium until everyone’s on it. Will that ever happen? Probably not. She would be better off getting opinions from the street.