The Oprah Effect: One Million Votes, Study Says

How much did Oprah Winfrey's endorsement help Barack Obama? Quite a lot, a new study concludes. Economists at the University of Maryland find that Oprah's endorsement brought Obama 1,015,559 votes. The researchers linked subscriptions to Oprah's magazine and participation in her book club to increased voter participation.

The study concludes:

The results of this study suggest that Oprah Winfrey's endorsement of Barack Obama during the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary had statistically and politically significant effects on Obama's political outcomes. Winfrey's involvement increased the share of the vote and the campaign contributions received by Obama, as well as the overall level of voter participation.

The whole study can be read here.

Comments

[toocoldout]

Oh I think she got a lot more than 1 million votes. He was losing big time among blacks (especially black woman) until he announced Oprah's participation in late November, and she began campaigning in early December. Almost instantly he started surging in the black vote. Blacks who a week earlier were saying he wasn't black enough, that he was only half, that he was East African not West African, were suddenly falling over him when Oprah jumped in. And don't forget Oprah single-handedly won Iowa, and that changed everything. She attracted thousands of new volunteers to his campaign at that goes a long way in a small caucus state. He even won white women in Iowa. Oprah single handedly changed the trajectory of the race and turned it on its head.

[markj757]

I agree with everything you wrote, but I don't think it was the black community asking was he black enough, in my opinion, it was other groups outside the black community asking was he black enough to draw strong black support against a Clinton who was very well known and well respected in the black community.

[PumaAnn]

I saw that she got him the needed boost in atttention, which helped him nail Iowa. After that, she wasn't needed. He was viable.

[sociocanuck]

This whole article is garuanteed troll-fodder. Cue PUMAs.... now!

[Joeymanrella]

Oh I'm sure thats why people, are going to vote for Obama because they read Oprah's rag, ya right.
the more I read the garbage on here the more I laugh, it is ludicrious.

[BardEric]

Not so fast, the sad fact of the matter is that Oprah probably DID influence people to vote for him. Queen Oprah has a VERY large flock of sheep who hang on every word she says.

[Melissa]

If this is true, explain why her TV ratings are down and her magazine has lost quite a large number of subscribers. I still admire Oprah but I sure don't want her or any other celebrity to tell me who to vote for.

[Triciann]

You can prove anything with statistics and this study seems a little convoluted. However, I reckon she did him no harm.

[wbramh]

Oprah's endorsement was certainly positive but it had nothing whatsoever to do with Senator Obama's nomination victory over Hillary Clinton. By the time Oprah endorsed him. Senator Obama had already outflanked Senator Clinton on the ground and secured the nomination. The "Big" states like Pennsylvania and Ohio were only meaningful to the Media and their desire to extend a sense of drama. The Obama campaign spent just enough money to keep it honest in those states and leave the beginning of a general campaign machine in place. Oprah's endorsement was icing - but I seriously doubt it was to the tune of a million voters. The endorsement may be more meaningful in the General election once Oprah's audience gets to know Senator Obama. Nothing is more important to a relative newcomer then personal branding.

[toocoldout]

Actually he was 30 points behind in the polls when she started campaigning for him and losing the black vote big time. Several weeks later he was winning the black vote hand over fist and winning even white women in all important Iowa. I think in a race between the first black and first woman, the black woman vote was absolutely decisive, and Oprah's the most influential black woman of all time.

[ShamusNYC]

Harriet Beecher Stowe may beg to disagree...

[PumaAnn]

phooey......Oprah was the only reason anyone paid any attention to him.

[ShamusNYC]

No - please don't forget that Kerry came out early for him and there were a few others who joined together to give him the needed credibility.

[Pamela1961]

Clinton got 18 million without Oprah. I wonder how many votes she cost him? If you looked at her website a lot of the people who watch her were not thrilled she went political on them. But hey, it's her right.

[toocoldout]

Well obviously anytime you take sides politically you ailienate a huge chunck of your audience. But the people who got angry, only got angry because they hated the person she chose from the start.

[BigLib]

The OBAMA-BUNG-HOLE!

If a Los Angeles creative agency gets its way, Sen. Barack Obama will see fans meet him with his own salute like the one above. "Our goal is to see a crowd of 75,000 people at Obama's nomination speech holding their hands above their heads, fingers laced together in support of a new direction for this country, a renewed hope, and acceptance of responsibility for our future," says Rick Husong, owner of The Loyalty Inc. Husong tells me that he got the idea after seeing the famous Obama-Progress poster by artist Shepherd Fairey. "We wanted to get involved some way," he says. So, the agency came up with their own a symbol of hope and progress that also plays off Obama's name. "We thought, 'Let's try and start a movement where even while walking down the street, people would hold up the O and you would know that they were for Obama,' " says Husong. Much thought went into the relatively simple idea. "You interlace your hands in a circle, the interlacing being a symbol of different types of people coming together and the circle a symbol of unity," he says. Their design, unlike Fairey's, is free, and Husong is urging people to download it and print it on posters and T-shirts. "We want to see it everywhere, but more importantly we want this sign to take the world by storm."

[levibatgirl]

It would be WAY better than the rethug symbol of flipping America the finger.

[Pamela1961]

Hey, that's the salute I've been giving him. Just kidding, I don't want all the huffy peeps on my case now.

[Grunty1]

Neo-cons always like talking about "bung holes", don't ya?

Keep your fantasies to yourself.

[RaraAvis17]

They just can't put their finger on it...hmmmmmm

[Dreamers101]

Tro//ology101

"It's like these guys take pride in being igno'rant"


HEY THANKS FOR THE NEW INFROMATION!!!!!!! YES WE CAN!!!!!

[Pamela1961]

Didn't we see a past leader of another nation have his own salute? Obama should go with the Hawiian surfers salute dude.

[ThePeacemakers]

Sufi66
Oprah a know nothing?
What info can your genius enlighten us with? Who have you helped in the world?

[Dreamers101]

If you can read then you can enlighten yourself.

http://www.oprah.com/entity/angelnetwork


Tro//ology101

"It's like these guys take pride in being igno'rant"

[Dreamers101]

Sorry peace maybe that was for someone else??? I miss read it :(

[WilliamGossett]

Celebs have stated preferences before...

John Voight - the turncoat radical who has become an arch conseervative. He endorsed Giuliani. and all GOP standards including disowning his own left views of years past. Chuck Norris is always GOP. Jimmy Stewart was for Goldwater as was John Wayne. Kirk Douglas was for Johnson.

Oprah? Well, she is sort of a cult herself. Whether that puts him over the top is another question. Could have an opposite effect as people might vote against her for meddling.

Would she have done the same for Colin Powell? Maybe...

[Solange]

No, she wouldn't have done the same for Powell. Obama is from Illinois where Oprah lives and where HARPO, her company is located. She has followed his politics for years and endorsed him because she believes he is the best candidate--remember, she encouraged him to run, even before he had decided or formally announced. By suggesting that she would have supported Powell is ridiculous. Do you say so because both Powell and Obama are black? If so, what does that tell you about yourself. Oprah isn't stupid--she wouldn't support someone or not support someone because of his skin color or ethnic background.

[Dreamers101]

Please keep up the good works all you can do is bring facts and truth to the table either then that these misguided fo'ols will continue there dece'ptions.

[Pamela1961]

Did she encourage him to run while sitting next to him at Trinity church? Again, just kidding. As for Colin Powell, although I'm a democrat I like the guy.

[Ides]

Hell, Oprah doesn't even donate to political campaigns and from what I've researched has only done it twice before (last time in '92 to a local race).

[PumaAnn]

She never even voted in primaries. LOL*

[sufi66]

So what happens one day when she disagrees with Obama? Does this mean the sheep that follow her will withdraw their approval?

This is the danger of playing this game, and Obama could get burned.

Also the idea of Oprah, a classic know-nothing, being anywhere near the White House repels me, though not enough to support McCain.

[DesertLight]

This whole endorsement game is way over played. I have never paid attention to the endorsements.

[Sylmason]

Typical republican/FOX response. You people are just stupid.

Way to go Oprah!!! Thanks for the support.

OBAMA '08

[Pamela1961]

Did you read the whole response? They said they would NOT support McCain. They just don't feel Oprah knows a lot about politics, right or wrong it's their opinion. Calling them stupid showed your true colors.

[thatveiledgazelle]

if you read this person's profile, they are a staunch obama supporter... it's o.k. to criticize the proximity of celebrity...

"know - nothing?" i don't know about that, but this person is no republican. don't be too quick to judge...

[Grunty1]

Sufi66, if you ever find a politican who agrees with you 100% of the time, congratulations, you found a liar. There are positions of Ob'ama's that I do not agree with, such as the "faith based" programs and the FISA vote.

However, I have come to trust his good judgement, which he has displayed time and again.
I also believe that he is really out there for the people, not for big business.

These two qualities make up for any single issue where I do not agree with him.

[LeftLeanWing]

Oprah has less influence that Rupert Murdoch.. He has papers and entire channels dedicated to conservative causes. That hasn't ruined him has it !

Oprah a classic No-Nothing ? ..... You Jest ; you jester You ...

[Libertynjustice4all]

If rising from poverty, unspeakable hardship and abuse and parlaying your intelligence, insight, discernment and charisma into unprecedented influence and a net worth of approximately 3 billion US dollars, and more importantly consistently contributing to various worthwhile causes and humanitarian efforts at home as well as abroad make one a "classic know-nothing", then count me in as an aspiring "classic know-nothing".

[Dreamers101]

This kind of argument is way off bases and makes parents and adults seem silly when we are trying to teach are kids.

___________________________________________________________________

mredder4 See Profile I'm a Fan of mredder4

“If that doesn't strike you as odd or disturbing, then you don't truly understand the danger of one person having the power to influence that many votes and the problems it represents for America”.

Posted 01:29 PM on 08/08/2008
_____________________________________________________________________________

Dreamers101 See Profile I'm a Fan of Dreamers101

Your statement does not even answer the question "why would young people vote" it is a truth and understanding that young people look up to older people that they respect and admire.

You are really being disrespectful to the fact that younger people also have there own minds, in fact what you are saying is that if young people are respectful of say their school teacher and this teacher has the power to influence them to greater things then this is wrong?

What kind of argument would have anyone to believe in such hogwash that you are preaching?

Unbelievably shame'ful!

Posted 01:59 PM on

[mredder4]

Young people are many things, but one of them is not "Oprah viewers". Unless of course it's the hip new thing to tune in every day and watch some rich woman give away stuff to her audience, wax on and off about her latest weight-loss plan, or interviewing crackpot Scientologists about their sham marriages.

And this article isn't singling out young voters. It's any voter. And it's more likely that a voter influenced by Oprah is a middle-aged woman who should know that she should understand the issues before she votes, but doesn't, because she saw on the TV how to vote because Oprah told her to. Oprah is capable of making a book a best-seller, whether it deserves it or not (James Frey and "A Million Little Pieces", anyone remember him?). Her book club has already demonstrated how poor and gullible her decision-making skills are; should she really be counted on to pick a good President?

And the reason I didn't address the question "Why would young people vote?" is because it's not asked at any point in this article! What I would say is that it is wrong for anyone to attempt to influence other people and how they vote, because voting is a personal issue.

[DesertLight]

Suzyhein:

I am totally not into the r@cial thing at all. I work in the education field in AZ., that is primarily 85% minority with 25% that have no English skills at all.

The minister thing is that I pastored for 20 years and this educational work was birthed through that ministry to the community. So much so, that I retired from the church and now serve the school. I keep my license and affiliation for hospital visits, marrying, burying, counseling and fill in preaching.

[PoliJunkie]

What does racism or lack of it have anything to do with education. I too work in the education field, I live in Chicago now and worked in the field in San Diego as well. Some of the teachers are indeed racists (they don't know it) and they pretend to not be because of the field they chose. I am AA and worked in a predominately white school that bused in minorities. I will tell you that a lot of them claimed to be Christians while on the other hand were saying some really awful things about the minorities. The treatment of some of the children were just plain ridiculous. So as I have experience with these types, I wonder how your argument about working in this field excludes you from racism. By saying so? I really hope you are not.

[DesertLight]

Which is why it was not addressed to you. It was a question from an earlier post and was unfinished.

From our school AIMS Report.

Outstanding AIMS scores demonstrate school success. Results from the Arizona Department of Education 2006 spring assessments show that our students made substantial progress in each of the three areas of reading, writing, and mathematics. A few highlights of the impressive results include:

6th Grade writing, a 44% increase in the percentage of students "meeting or exceeding" the standards
8th Grade reading, a 32% increase in the percentage of students "meeting or exceeding" the standards

How does that work out for you?
7th grade writing, 97% of the students "met or exceeded" the standards
5th grade math, 12% of the students "exceeded" the standards

We are very pleased with our results and the dedication shown by our students, teachers, parents, and staff insisting that our students reach their highest potential.

[DesertLight]

I am suspect of people who ask questions and then go dark.

[rudiy]

Her statement that "he is the one" sounded like the annoitment of the Messiah. I for one was turned off. The poll should have also sought to see how many voters did she dissuade from voting for Obama and of those who claim to follow her lead, how many will actually vote.

[luvobama]

Just stop it. If you ever listen to Oprah, you know how she uses her words. She has her own way of saying things like "he's the one". Nothing to get your pantyhose in a know over. Try to live a little less fearfully. It's much more peaceful.

[sufi66]

That's just it: she never uses words carefully. Unless she's promoting herself: then she's quite clear.

[Dreamers101]

You need to make peace with the fact the O is the one the right one to lead this country in a different direction.

[UnknownSoldier]

Rudiy 1:52
Well, if it took one comment from Oprah to dissuade you from voting for the better of the two major Dem candidates (I'm not even counting Mc2008) then what does that say about your decision making process. Had you said that you listened to the two candidates debate healthcare, or taxes. then I could understand. However, we all know the truth, YOU WERE NEVER GOING TO VOTE FOR HIM, even if JezzzzuS CrYst himself had endorsed him.

[RaraAvis17]

I think it's funny how the Rethugs have turned a simple statement into something over the top in some sort of religious cult way. 'He is the one' is as simple of a statement as you can make about a person, but yet they've somehow made it a bad thing and running with it.

O is the one. Meaning he is the next President plain and simple. Get used to it. Now if we were talking about old men that flip flop and are easily bought out by big oil then McCan't would 'be the one'. See how that works?

O=Hope in 08

[Mitchell4A]

And now looking past Oprah and the primaries, that is, looking to the future, and taking on McCain in a way that the Obama camp cannot:

"Who Does McCain Remind you of? A New Game for Hard Times"
http://msa4.wordpress.com/

[rose london]

Thank you Oprah. YEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPpYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY.