Oprah Winfrey already raised $3 million for Obama last September after declaring her support for him in May, but now she's appearing with him in campaigning events around the nation.
The duo first held an event in Iowa (state holding first caucus in the 2008 election) which drew by far the largest crowd of any campaign event this year in that state. Oprah rallied for Obama, deflecting charges for his lack of experience by saying "the amount of time you spend in Washington means nothing unless you are accountable for the judgment you made." She also showed the strength of her support for him with statements such as, "For the very first time in my life I feel compelled to stand up and speak out for the man who I believe has a new vision for America." This event also compelled volunteer work for Obama, rewarding them with priority seats.
Not only will Oprah campaign for Obama in the all too important state of Iowa, but is expected to appear in New Hampshire and South Carolina over the next few days.
While Hilary Clinton, her mother and daughter, also campaigned in the state, a staff said "Senator Clinton is a big fan of Oprah's, and she thinks it is great for candidates to have surrogates campaign on their behalf."
What do you think? Is this just a publicity stunt? What good comes out of public celebrities rallying for politicians? Will this affect the opinion of the people in the election? What's in it for Oprah?
Article at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7134895.stm
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13 comments:
I guess you could call this a publicity stunt but politics has a big focus on being known. Publicity does exactly that makes the candidates more known to the public, even when it's from politically unimportant people like celebrities. The only good things that come out of these celebrities choosing a candidate to support is for the candidates. The candidates get to label themselves with a public popular public figures which in turn may make the candidates more popular or well known.This will affect the voters but probably not in a big way. The voters that like Oprah may swing to Obama and Obama may also get notice from people who really don't pay attention to politics and will pick the candidate they hear about most. What Oprah gets out of this I'm not quite sure but she can say she's voting for somebody.
i think that there will be some effect of Oprah campaigning for Obama. It seems to me that if she can make millions of fans read a book just based on a recomendation, she will have some amount of sway in the presidential election. i dont necesarily think that this is a good thing because people will be voting just becuase of what Oprah says rather than becuase of what they really believe. however, in a way, anything that gets people involved in politics can be considered a good thing, so Oprah's participation is both good and bad.
I think this is and isn't a publicity stunt. I think it's a really smart political move for Obama to have Oprah as a supporter. Millions of people in American and around the world watch Oprah and are persuaded by what values and ideals she expresses. Even something as simple as a book club has turned unknown authors into multi-millionaires. Oprah will definitely have an impact on supporters and voters for Obama because so many look up to Oprah for guidance and opinions. But, on Oprah's part, I don't think it's that much of a publicity stunt. She personally doesn't need any more attention, but I think she knows that her public support for Obama will help her cause: putting him in the white house.
But overall, I don't think public celebrity endorsements make that big of a difference. They are definitely useful in advertisements for perfume or jewelry, but I remember last year, there was a poll or survey (I heard this on the news a while ago and don't remember where from) of how much celebrity endorsement affects your vote for a politician and the vast majority said no. However, I think in this case, it's different. Oprah is more than a celebrity - she has an empire of magazines, shows, and such and she's very different than movie stars in the way of her exposure and persuasion abilities.
Politics and the campaigning process is all a big, flashy show and Oprah herself is just that: a big, flash show. Hollywood has been casting its political opinion for a while now and Oprah's campaign for Obama is really no different. Celebrity and Hollywood in general pull a lot of weight with the nation and personally, i think it is good for popular figures (other than politicians) to get involved and interested in the political scene. Oprah is such an interesting women, just based upon the amount of influence she seems to posses. I think that she will have a great effect on Obama's campaign. As Greg said, "Oprah's book club" gets millions to read a single book; why shouldn't she have the same effect on politics?
So I watched a bit of the event and Oprah's speech personally turned me off. I don't know much about Oprah, so the name didn't have too much sway over me.
Did anyone have the same feeling? Here is a clip of the event in Des Moines, IA:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_QJJOtT32C0&feature=related
A publicity stunt has been defined as "a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the promoters or their causes" so according to that definition, I definitely think this is a publicity stunt. While I don't think it's great that some people will probably be swayed to Obama's cause simply because Oprah promoting it...I don't have a big problem with that since he's one of my favorite candidates :) But seriously, I think Oprah's campaign for Obama is a huge ace in his pocket (or whatever the saying is) because of her widespread influence, especially over a population that is probably not very politically active. I can't really speculate what's in it for Oprah, but I watched the YouTube clip and it certainly seems like she has the politician-y skill of sounding convincing while saying nothing at all down pat. I thought this line was particularly amusing:
"Well, I not only care about this country but there are times that I even worry about what happens to our country."
Um, duh.
And as for the reason why she was supporting Obama?
"That is why for the very first time in my life I feel compelled to stand up and speak out for the man that I believe has a new vision for America."
Maybe I haven't had enough exposure to other politician's speeches, but I agree with Farrah - Oprah's speech turned me off...it wasn't very compelling at all.
I do agree that Oprah may not be the best speaker as Erika pointed out, however, I think to most people who either haven't chosen a candidate because they are not sure to vote or haven't chosen a candidate because they had no interest would say that having such an idolized person like Oprah show support for a candidate is helpful when they enter the ballot box. I'm not saying this is right or good for the political system, I'm only saying that while people who are sure of their vote won't budge because of Oprah's support, she may have a stronger influence on those who are on the fence.
It's always interesting when politicans are abile to affiliate themselves with a popular celebrity to gain support. Obama will definately gain votes, there is no question there, but will it be enough to grab some beginning states? I agree with Pat in that this stint will get him more noticed than anything. To me, this has been the first real recognizable thing I've seen him do.
As much as I think having someone as influential as Oprah helping him, I don't think it will make much of a difference. Most people are not going to vote for someone jsut because Oprah said to.
As we read in the textbook, people w/ strong opinions, or voters in general, won't pay attention to things they don't want to hear. People will vote the way they see fit.
oh no no no angela! you must not know who oprah is...my mother tivos her every week and every week we watch the "inspiring" stories she brings on. Oprah has touched people's hearts and is an idol. Recently she was ranked on Forbes' List as No. 21 most poerful woman in the world, beating out Queen Elizabeth II and Hillary Clinton. Her influence is very important. When Oprah jumps, an impactual number of women in America say "How high?" Obama's interview will most definitely help him in the race
Has anyone thought about how the more racist or conservative white voters will see this? Shouldn't Obama try to grab their votes as well? (I'm pretty sure most of them won't be avid Oprah fans).
In response to Melissa's comment:
Yea, I don't live under a rock.
I'm not sure everyone has Tivo... and
although Oprah does affect "an impactual number of women," deciding what book you're going to read off of her book list and voting for president of the United States of America are two completely different things.
“In terms of voting behavior, family and significant others are more influential than celebrities in engaging support for a political candidate,” explains Natalie Wood, Ph.D., a marketing expert at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia whose research on celebrity endorsements was recently published by the Journal of Political Marketing.
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/536160/
Also:"...Darrell West, a political science professor at Brown University who examined the subject as co-author of a 2002 book, "Celebrity Politics."
"Citizens make up their minds based on their own personal circumstances and who best represents their values and interests."
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/nation/12/08/1208celebendorse.html
If celebrity endorsements determined presidential elections, the Democrats would never lose.
Ah, that's just my opinion...
This is a stunt, but all candidates do it, and it's a pretty good one, too. There's tons of Oprah supporters, and no offense to any of them, but they can be a little too supportive, in my opinion. That's fine, but it's great for Obama, because a lot of that support is going to transfer to him. It's a great move, and if I were running, I would've done something like that, too.
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