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Celeb endorsements good for votes, bad for democracy
Maria Myotte
Issue date: 12/10/07 Section: Opinion
Anchors and media professionals are barking over what will come of Oprah Winfrey's recent endorsement of presidential candidate Barack Obama.
This is Oprah's first time endorsement of a potential presidential candidate.
Other celebrities have endorsed candidates -- Ben Affleck likes Obama, Barbara Streisand is for Hillary, Chuck Norris wants Huckabee -- but Oprah's magnitude of influence towers over her celebrity colleagues. People change the way they think because of Oprah.
A recent New York Times article broke it down like this: If Oprah likes Barack and the audience likes Oprah, then the audience will also like Barack.
See, unlike other celebrities, Oprah's power of suggestion also translates into action. Just look at her book club. When she chose Steinbeck's East of Eden, it dominated the top of the New York Times list of paperback best sellers for seven weeks. And when she chose Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, it blasted to the top of best-seller list as well -- a rare feat for a classic book.
Oprah's endorsement comes at a crucial moment in the campaign game. Obama is starting to catch up with Hillary.
Although Obama leads in some polls in Iowa, he's still behind in two other crucial states -- South Carolina and New Hampshire.
In order to step up, he has to edge his way into the demographic that has a natural alliance with Clinton: women.
Oprah's endorsement does just this.
According to Nielsen Media Research, Oprah has a daytime audience of 8.6 million viewers, 75 percent of which are women.
It's not outlandish to assume that a good chunk of Oprah's women viewers will entertain her endorsement, nudging undecided voters towards a vote for Obama.
The New York Times interviewed a young female student who said she's now "leaning more towards Obama, and that's because of both Oprah's support and what I've seen of him."
But it's not all cake and rainbows for Obama.
Oprah's endorsement may create more votes for Obama, but those votes are probably not the product of critical engagement with Obama's platform and political history.
This is Oprah's first time endorsement of a potential presidential candidate.
Other celebrities have endorsed candidates -- Ben Affleck likes Obama, Barbara Streisand is for Hillary, Chuck Norris wants Huckabee -- but Oprah's magnitude of influence towers over her celebrity colleagues. People change the way they think because of Oprah.
A recent New York Times article broke it down like this: If Oprah likes Barack and the audience likes Oprah, then the audience will also like Barack.
See, unlike other celebrities, Oprah's power of suggestion also translates into action. Just look at her book club. When she chose Steinbeck's East of Eden, it dominated the top of the New York Times list of paperback best sellers for seven weeks. And when she chose Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, it blasted to the top of best-seller list as well -- a rare feat for a classic book.
Oprah's endorsement comes at a crucial moment in the campaign game. Obama is starting to catch up with Hillary.
Although Obama leads in some polls in Iowa, he's still behind in two other crucial states -- South Carolina and New Hampshire.
In order to step up, he has to edge his way into the demographic that has a natural alliance with Clinton: women.
Oprah's endorsement does just this.
According to Nielsen Media Research, Oprah has a daytime audience of 8.6 million viewers, 75 percent of which are women.
It's not outlandish to assume that a good chunk of Oprah's women viewers will entertain her endorsement, nudging undecided voters towards a vote for Obama.
The New York Times interviewed a young female student who said she's now "leaning more towards Obama, and that's because of both Oprah's support and what I've seen of him."
But it's not all cake and rainbows for Obama.
Oprah's endorsement may create more votes for Obama, but those votes are probably not the product of critical engagement with Obama's platform and political history.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
jimmy
posted 12/10/07 @ 7:57 AM MST
Are we that stupid, I think to say that only because Oprah supports Barak he will get more votes is totally undermining the intelligence of our voters. (Continued…)
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