Oprah Winfrey has made very clear that she is supporting Barack Obama for the 2008 presidential election.
Winfrey held a gala fundraiser at her Santa Barbara estate where 1,500 guests attended, USA Today reported. Famous guests showed up to the event such as Stevie Wonder, Chris Rock and Cindy Crawford. Tickets to the gala cost $2,300 each so it's no surprise when big names are involve with this kind of fundraiser. With Winfrey's name attached to Obama's, there's definitely going to be perks.
Presidential candidates in the past has had their share of Hollywood-star-type media attention and some endorsements along with it. But how does it really help their platform when a name like "George Clooney" supports them? Other than give them a glitzy, glamorous image.
Although, Winfrey isn't like most celebrities. Don't get me wrong, she's a household name and she could probably buy Hollywood, but her influence extends further than the movie/tv crazed fans that we see screaming outside of TRL. Her show covers day-to-day problems that has affected millions of viewers making her more acceptable among the commoners.
Winfrey's influence has been so widely accepted that even books she reads ends up at the NY Times Best-Seller list.
Marty Kaplan, professor of communications at the University of Southern California told CNN, "People buy books when she tells them to. They will watch her shows, and buy her magazines when she asks them to...So, the question is, are enough of them willing to follow her lead not with a consumer good, but with a ballot cast?"
The article also states that women make up the majority of Winfrey's audience and with her support for Obama's campaign, she could sway more votes out of women which would rival Hillary Clinton.
Could this be the future of presidential campaigns? Celebrities are no longer just for entertainment, but also a political commodity.
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As I was reading your article, I stopped when I got to the part where you stated: "Winfrey's influence has been so widely accepted that even books she reads ends up at the NY Times Best-Seller list." I stopped because I realized that what you were describing was the "Oprah Effect"-a term I first heard a few months ago when someone was referring to her impact on book sales with her book club.
According to an article by UCLA TODAY )http://www.today.ucla.edu/news/061106_oprah-effect/), the "Oprah Effect" is the name Matthew Baum, associate professor of political science at UCLA, uses to describe the phenomenon of her great influence.
Baum was quoted as saying: "Soft news coverage of political candidates turns out to be surprisingly effective in reaching a certain type of voter. For politically inattentive individuals, watching political coverage in such soft news outlets as 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' can make the difference between voting one's convictions and not."
I especially found the opening of the article quite relevant to what you wrote:
"...U.S. Senator Barack Obama says that if he ever runs for president, he'll announce his candidacy on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."
I think that's what they call foreshadowing. :o) Good job!
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