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

[JennyJay]

Of all the celebrity endosements out there - this is the one that really counts. Oprah does all
this charity work to make the world a better place. If she really wanted to make the world a better
place, IN A GIANT WAY, she would be out campaigning for Obama on every day off she has.
This election is the most important election America, and the world, has ever had.
WHERE IS OPRAH? Why is she not helping Obama more?

[Pupadup4oBama]

I'm not sure - but it could be because she felt she was hindering his campaign.

Again, not completely sure - but just from what i've gathered from reading bits and pieces.

[Justsaynodeal]

She saw her own audience share decline after the endorsement.

[ChiGuy]

1.) It's early August. The convention hasn't even happened yet.
Campaigns don't want to peak now. Watch what happens in late September and into October.
2.) The new season of her show begins next month. I doubt that there will be many days off for a while.

[checkitout]

After endorsing O bama on her show, O prah had an immediate ratings drop. For the most part her viewers returned, so it was temporary. I do believe she had an effect on O bama's popularity, which is not a bad thing since she promotes good stuff, ideas and useful people. The time for O prah to return is after the convention. She can cement the deal.

[heal57]

Unfortunately, in America the only way many people pay attention to anything is if it's 'out there' and celebrity driven. It shows our culture has declined over the years and our education system through high school is very poor. Even the parents of younger voters share in this almost two cycles of generational change.
I'm glad Senator Obama won the nomination. Without Oprah, I don't know....without the last almost 8 years of Bush/hene/Rmsfld//ove...I think that helped a lot....and Caroline Kennedy did not hurt with older voters.
All this is just my humble opinion.

Independent for Obama '08

[ScandalousCandice]

Thi is kind of cool. After the smears that she some how hurt his campaign of that he had hurt her ratings. It's all BS. Hopefully anyway.

[ChiGuy]

As Oprah says to the naysayers in her Michael Jordan impersonation, "How you like me now?"

[loax]

Why is this here?

[ChiGuy]

It has to do with one of the candidates and the votes he received in the primaries as a result of a particular person's endorsement.
In other words, it's pertinent.

Clear enough for ya'?

[CanadianAmerican]

What a load of hooey. Is this even published (peer reviewed)? Skimming the article, I see lots of assumptions and models, but little evidence.

[Grunty1]

Wouldn't that make it a typical news article?

[Ajita]

I agree, this is the sort of correlation based study that does not really bother with establishing any causation.

[AguynamedWayne]

speaks volumes about the "celebrity" campaign

[kellygrrrl]

I find it hard to believe that subscriptions to her magazine or participating in her book club indicate influence over votes.

[pupbayer]

Isn't that a sad commentary on the American electorate? It is amazing that celebrity endorsements carry any clout much less that much. There's so much discussion about TV ads and how campaigns are run, but it comes down to people's personal feelings about candidates. Many vote for whom they would most like to sit down with and have dinner as if that is ever going to happen. It's not about issues. It's about who they personally like the most or, many times, dislike the least. In today's world there is so much information available but we still tend to vote with our hearts and not our minds. That's why Oprah endorsing O means a lot of votes just as McC being a POW means a lot of votes. Neither has anything to do with how effective a President either candidate would be. That's how we got Bush2. No wonder we're in the mess we're in.

Before everyone starts screaming at me and calling me names, this is not an indictment of O. It's an indictment of the voting public in general.

[Dreamers101]

Pubayer

I am asking that we unify and call in all this bickering from the primaries, this serves no purpose but to keep Dem’s divided.


Stop the bickering stop the yelling and unite

Dem’s for a better America 08

[williamg]

I agree. We should all start voting for people's wives...like you.

[bluestatelib]

That's how we do it Chicago-style folks.

[poco767b]

She has been quiet of late it seems.