THE O(PRAH)BAMA CONNECTION - TAKE TWO

This blog entry by LIndsey Crouse

The story: "Oprah Shines Her Star Power on Obama"

The analysis:

In Des Moines, Iowa on December 8, TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey addressed over 18,000 people on the presidential campaign and her belief in Barack Obama’s ability to lead our country. Oprah makes an argument for change from the Bush administration other than another Clinton in the White House making it clear that Obama stood with clarity and conviction against the war in Iraq. The question is whether Obama will win votes merely from having one of the most popular daytime talk show hosts by his side. “Winfrey said she does not know if her influence on the presidential campaign will have the same impact as she has in driving up the popularity of books and products featured on her show”, but it should seem obvious that she will definitely have some sort of impact.
I chose this article because it is amazing to see how our society flocks towards celebrities and television stars. One woman that was interviewed admitted that she was not involved much in politics before, but was drawn to the rally both by Oprah and Obama. It seems to me that she was mainly drawn to the rally for Oprah because she then goes on to “jokingly” say that she hoped Winfrey would have one of her famous giveaways because she’d love to have a new car.
Having Oprah Winfrey speak out for Obama’s campaign definitely grabs people’s attention not only because she’s an extremely popular talk show host, but people also look up to her because of her many donations and acts of selflessness. Although I would like to be able to say that Oprah would not have any affect on voting matters, I think she will have a huge impact on people who are not normally involved in politics like the woman interviewed. People who aren’t knowledgeable in politics and do not make the effort to do research on politicians may vote for Obama just because of Oprah, this woman people may see as unselfish and positive in our society, and not because of what Obama stands for.