Oprah Winfrey's endorsement of Barack Obama
Oprah Winfrey's endorsement of Senator Barack Obama was one of the most widely covered and studied developments of the 2008 presidential campaign, as she has been described as the most influential woman in the world.
[9] Ladies Home Journal also ranked Winfrey number one in their list of the most powerful women in America and then senator Barack Obama has said she "may be the most influential woman in the country".
[11] In 2003 Winfrey edged out both Superman and Elvis Presley to be named the greatest pop culture icon of all time by VH1.
[15]Vanity Fair wrote: Oprah Winfrey arguably has more influence on the culture than any university president, politician, or religious leader, except perhaps the Pope.
Business Week stated: Perhaps the most astonishing aspect of the Oprah phenomenon is how outsized her power is compared with that of other market movers.
But no one comes close to Oprah's clout: Publishers estimate that her power to sell a book is anywhere from 20 to 100 times that of any other media personality.
Then, on October 19, 2006, Winfrey interviewed Obama and his wife Michelle on her show and reiterated the endorsement that she had previously made on Larry King, while promoting his book The Audacity of Hope.
On February 10, 2007,[22] Obama eventually decided to announce his candidacy, not on The Oprah Winfrey Show, but at the steps of the Illinois state legislature.
[23] In June 2008, when Obama secured the Democratic nomination, Winfrey told Entertainment Tonight: I'm euphoric, I've been doing the happy dance all day.
[24]In late August 2008, Winfrey attended the Democratic convention and reacted emotionally to Obama's speech, telling reporters "I've never experienced anything like that.
[31][32] Newsweek's Howard Fineman reviewed Winfrey's speech in South Carolina: Oprah riffed her way through an eloquent paean to the need for a change of leadership in America.
[33] Using a novel methodology, Craig Garthwaite and Tim Moore, economists at the University of Maryland, College Park concluded that Winfrey's endorsement of Obama not only netted him 1,015,559 votes in the Democratic primary alone (with a 95% confidence interval of 423,123 to 1,596,995) but decided the election.
The researchers were not able to apply their methodology to all states however, so their estimate does not include any additional Oprah effect that may have emerged in Texas, Michigan, North Dakota, Kansas, or Alaska.
[5] Garthwaite and Moore also showed that the connection is not because people who read women's magazines preferred Obama to Clinton.
After controlling for racial demographics, the economists also found no relationship between the popularity of Ebony magazine, whose readership is largely African American, and support for Obama.
[5] In addition to getting Obama over a million votes, the researchers found that Winfrey's support boosted campaign contributions to him in those counties where she is most popular.
Researchers Andrew Pease and Paul R. Brewer of the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee conducted an experiment in which some subjects were exposed to news of Winfrey's endorsement and others weren't.
The researchers concluded that when evaluating the impact of celebrity endorsements, one must also consider "subtler effects, such as those on viability assessments.
"[37] A CBS poll found that a third of all Americans claimed that most people they know would be more inclined to vote for Obama because of Winfrey's endorsement.
[38] A study by the Pew Research Center found that Winfrey's campaign appearances had dramatically increased Obama's visibility, especially among African-Americans.
[40] "There's no doubt that Oprah could tip a close presidential election if she strongly backed one candidate," predicted psychologist James Houran.
[42]"Because Oprah has such a reputation as a tastemaker, I think her early endorsement forced people to take Obama's candidacy seriously," explained Dr. Mark Anthony Neal, author, pop culture critic and Duke University professor.
Also, given Oprah's championing of women's issues, her decision not to support Hillary (Clinton) struck a chord for early undecideds... Obama's people understood that much of the Black electorate in the South was made up of women, and Oprah's campaigning with the Obamas, particularly in South Carolina, helped give the campaign some momentum"[43] In April 2008, The New York Times editorial board wrote: If Barack Obama is elected president, a good chunk of credit should go to Oprah Winfrey.
Governor Blagojevich summarized his reasons for considering Winfrey on various talk shows: To begin with, she was perhaps the most instrumental person in electing Barack Obama president.
[48]Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times agreed with Matthews, claiming Winfrey would be "terrific" and an "enormously popular pick.
[49] Obama's successor, President Donald Trump, commented on her decision by stating, "She says she'll run only if she gets the go ahead from the Almighty," he said.
