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

[SarahBurris]

This doesn't surprise me, they call her The Oprah for a reason... the woman is a force when it comes to stay at home moms who became the "security" moms of 2004. I think she will be a very influential person this year if she can handle the hit she took personally... I think I read her approval went down from like 78 (ish) to the mid 60's because of her political outreach. But hey, I say screw it, if you've got an approval of 78 - time to take it out for a spin see what it can do.

[progressivelady]

I love Oprah!

[Seattlelite]

What's not to love about Oprah!! But it seems there are always people you can find fault even where there is none.

[westreal]

If you're an Oprah fan you're going to love Obama. Same politics, same outlook on life and friends. And always trying to do what's right for others.

[DesertLight]

Why are they bringing this up again? It must be slow week with O in HA.

[marymansour]

Oprah came out for him in the beginning. She knows a winner when she sees one. GO OBAMA!

[thankulord13]

It is good to see a Black woman with that much power in American society!

[londonrainbow]

It sure is.

[Georgianna]

Good to hear. Is it true that Senator McCain graduated 894 out of a class of 899? That is incredible!

[masha2008]

yup. and with that standing he was able to land a coveted posting as a navy pilot. his father and grandfather are admirals. he also knew he wasnt going to advance past his captain rank in the navy so he opted out. and they people we know everything about john mccain. people dont know much about him. he crashed 5 planes but we do not know the circumstances and why he was able to continue flying despite the crashes. mccain refuses to release his military records and the media is not asking for it.

obama graduated magna cum laude at harvard law and was president of the law review there. he gives thoughtful comments on every issue. mccain is more like bush. shoot from the hip and stick to talking points. very shallow.

[londonrainbow]

Lol LOL

Biggest political A$$ of 08 = MCSTRAIN

[NYC07]

You know what's funny is that so few people know this and other interesting fact about McCain yet the MSM constantly claims that "Everyone knows McCain's life story" I think that someone like maybe, Move on. should make their own biographical commerical about McCain highlighting some of the more forgotten parts of his life , Keating Five anyone ???

[Deparis]

Some short-minded people forget that Oprah actually encouraged Barack to run. She did not just endorse the candidate, she encouraged and advised Barack even once on her show to be a candidate. I can remember some of her words like "this is the time Barack!", "I hear from many average people out there asking you to run" and she was right. If the MSM would do their job, they can still go back to TV footages in which many people across the country during the 2006 mid-term elections (Barack criss-crossed the nation campaigning for the Democrats) were pleading with him to run, especially young people and mid-age women.

Better than any other TV personality, Oprah understands the mood of the country, especially ordinary people and women. She encouraged and endorsed Barack because she believed/believes in and trusted/trusts, as she has stated numerous times the Senator from Illinois. Race had/has nothing to do with her support of him. PERIOD! 'nuff said.

[kitfox]

Well said Deparis!

[jupitor]

We keep trying to unite with the hill supporters! But their feeling are hurt so bad , they can't see or hear anything alse! people went to their sights, and tried over and over again! The clintons keep them riled up with promise's of soothing their pain at the convention! Ya , not face the fact she lost! Upset them more! what ans. do you want? What more do you wish us to do! If we lose it this year, it lays squarely on Hillary Clinton and her Husband Bill and their supporters! It will be the end of us woman getting nominated or elected to high office! Who after this will want to go through it again with another woman who can't take defeat gracefully like all lthe other male candidates? As a women, I'm in despair over how Hillary Clinton has betrayed all us women, and turned her supporters against Obama and if we lose this, it's no ones fault but hers. It's not because she was the stronger candidate, It's because she is to selfish,weak, and ignorant to understand and take defeat like all the other male candidates did! This is the women I use to admire, even though I did not like her husband.

[checkitout]

Remember D-avid C-assidy? B-obby S-herman? J-onas Bros?

H-ill is the one who is has the REAL cult of "celebrity" going on. Her so-called "supporters" are more like drooling fans that pay no attention to how this election could impact our nation - nor do they seem to care. Hell, they want to get even and vote for M cCain - the ultimate "cut-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face" style of politics. It's hard to tell if they are stupid or selfish. What they are NOT is patriotic.

Oh, and by the way... B-ill is the REAL reason H-ill won't get the nod for VP. They should go complain to him about shooting his mouth off. And she lost the election because O bama ran a better campaign than she did. Period.

Hopefully her smarter "fans" realize how stupid voting for M cCain really is and come to their senses. If not and they can vote for him and take credit for the bottoming out of the A-merican economy, no serious energy plan to come, the coming war with Iran, 100 years of war (with anybody in the middle east who has oil) and the inevitability of a reinstated draft that will lead up to it.

[personalpolitical]

Umm...I think this is a bit ridiculous, especially for a top story. You can't just assume that increased participation in women who like Oprah was due to Oprah, and not the same increased participation that we say across the board. Unless you poll a ton of people and ask if they changed their vote or wouldn't have voted without Oprah's endorsement this "study" is crackpot.

[larmarch5]

For all practical purposes Hillary and Obama were/are identical in their positions, although Hillary did vote against retro immunity for the telecoms -- after the primary was over. Both she and Barack skipped an earlier vote. What concerns me is that the most vocal Obama supporters seem to still be stuck on "defeating" Hillary than on defeating McCain. Their "PUMA" remarks do more to send votes to McCain than any stupid McCain ad. If these immature people cannot fathom a woman as leader, the dem party is no better than the repugs. More women than men vote dem. Recognize that and show Hillary and her supporters the respect they deserve. If they get no respect from this party, why should they vote for it? I urge every blogger on this site to go after the Hillary bashers on this site. Not enough white men will vote for Obama -- you must provide a reason for all women to support him. Obama is not the problem; Hillary is not the problem; white men and the dem anti-Hillary supporters are the problem.

[IslandGyal]

In a country of 220,600,000 + eligible voters, minus 110, 300, 000 for the dumb, dumb, dumb, i.e. republicans, and another 55, 150,000 for the republicans in denial who call themselves independents; is a 1,000,000 a large number?!?!??!?!?

FYI – I proudly say I AM an Independent Democrat, only because the Democrats will not take my vote for granted ever again i.e. yellow bellied Democratic senators during the Terri Schiavo fiasco.

[JohnIII]

Obama has been bought out by Big Oprah.

[MPeter]

I see a lot of sour grapping here. Many of you empty cans were dismissing her as nothing. She proved all of you wrong and now, instead of reacognizing the truth, you go off spewing hate. Oprah is powerful and uses her influence to advance this democracy. All power to her.

[JohnIII]

Spewing hate? How's that? Nothing I said was hateful. You're paranoid.

[Cookie]

Better than by Big Oil

[alieninvader]

Yep, women are divided into exactly two camps...those who voted for HRC because she's a woman and those who follow Oprah. I guess we're still incapable of independent thought.

[ivegotblisteronmefingers]

I think Okra lost any credibility that she might have had in this arena when she failed to condemn the shrub administration oh so many times over. Glad that she is w/Sen. Obama though she still draws some water (who else could continue to publish a mag that features her image on the cover EVERY month!)

[jkpcguru]

I disagree. The fact that Obama's female supporters chose him over HRC shows independent thought! Countless times, I've heard women say things like: "I'd love to vote for a woman president but not this one! or "I'm not going to vote for her just because she's a woman"

There's a reason why Obama grabs the Educated vote.... his supporters are educated, know how to think critically, think for themselves and know how to separate bad information sources from good information sources.

The concepts i've learned in my advanced comp class are coming in handy right now.

[alieninvader]

I was being sarcastic.

[BradPittsburgh]

O is just a big celebrity like her, mac is right.

[CanadianAmerican]

And why is Obama famous? And why is being popular somehow a negative for a politician? Seriously.

[williamg]

Brad, your candidate was Fred Thompson. Could there be a bigger celebrity than him??

Make sense once in a while.

[alieninvader]

Let's not forget Ahnold and Ronnie.

[alieninvader]

That's the best you can do? O is popular? Shudders...we could have a pres who's well liked.

[happypup]

Why would anyone ever NOT want a President to be popular and esteemed by people all over the world?

[burmajones44]

Brad, why are you here? I thought your mother said you had to stay off the internets until you cleaned your room.