Obama's Oprah event moves to stadium as demand soars

WASHINGTON -- Demand for tickets to see Oprah Winfrey appear with White House hopeful Barack Obama in South Carolina on Sunday is so high the campaign moved the event to an 80,250-seat football stadium.

The Obama team is doing away with tickets because of the strong demand and switching the event to the home of the University of South Carolina Gamecocks. This was the biggest venue the campaign could find in Columbia.

Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt said, "We don't expect to fill the stadium, but we want to accommodate the thousands of South Carolinians who expressed interest in attending."

Winfrey, with Barack and Michelle Obama, will start a two-day campaign swing in Iowa on Saturday with events in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. After the South Carolina rally, they will head to Manchester, N.H.

Lynn Sweet