Can Oprah push Obama to new heights?
Celebs, politics often don't mix, but this could be different
But in the long run, can a celebrity endorsement help a candidate? I'm not sure.
That said, Oprah has clout beyond any other media star.
Her syndicated show has been consistently the highest-rated talk program in U.S. television history. It attracts about 7 million viewers -- three-quarters of whom are women.
(Harpo/Bob Davis/George Burns)
The items Winfrey doles out on her "Oprah's Favorite Things" episodes -- a Burberry quilted jacket, a Movado watch -- become must-haves. While many women's magazines struggle for circulation, Oprah's O flies off the shelves, and her Web site gets thumping Nielsen ratings in the health and wellness category.
George W. Bush's approval ratings went up when he sat on Oprah's couch in front of the cameras during the 2000 campaign. Web searches for Obama increased by 358 percent after his appearance on her show on Oct. 18, 2006, according to Time Magazine.
But as the Dixie Chicks, who criticized President Bush at a concert, or Jane Fonda, who lives with the moniker Hanoi Jane years after her visit to North Vietnam, can relate: mixing politics and entertainment may sometimes lead to unanticipated results.
So it was a bit dicey for Oprah to come out in such vocal support of Obama, stating that not only will she invite no other presidential candidates on her show, but she will also actively campaign for him. She is relying on her moral import, her record of undertaking good works and her enormous constituency of devotees.
"People love her," notes political science Professor Arthur Sanders of Drake University in Des Moines. "By itself her endorsement [of Obama] is not going to be a big deal in terms of the voters, especially in Iowa caucuses for voters who pay attention to the issues.
"But what an endorsement like this does is to get people who might not have paid attention to him to take notice. Oprah is seen as a credible source by a lot of people ... A lot of people find that listening to Oprah has helped them make better choices in their lives."
Maybe I'm too wary. Maybe her party for Obama has just begun. It remains to be seen, though, how many voters will get up and dance to her music.
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During Fred Thompson's announcement that he is running for Republican presidential nominee on the ''Tonight Show,'' host Jay Leno asked: "You were here in June and you said then you were testing the water. You've been in the water for a while now. Are you starting to get a little wrinkly?"
Thompson seemed a lot wrinkly when I saw him in Des Moines on Sept. 6, the day after his announcement on Leno, and I'm not talking about the lines on his face. His first official campaign speech lacked passion, conviction and any vision of what he would do if elected president.
Thompson is 65, six years younger than John McCain, but he looked much more aged than his Republican rival as he stood at the Polk County Convention Center lectern, and his announcement was lackluster and anti-climactic.
Republicans, looking for a nominee they can endorse for both his conservative ethic and his appeal in the South, have been waiting for him to make up his mind for months, and although a USA Today/Gallup poll shows him in second place to former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Thompson may disappoint as he makes his way through the early voting states looking for support.
Thompson, a former senator from Tennessee, was much more appealing and dynamic as the district attorney on the television program "Law & Order." He shouldn't have quit his job.
The Economist magazine noted that even before his announcement, his speeches were "a succession of conservative cliches interspersed with long pauses."
One long snore for Republicans looking for a candidate to ignite the race.