The woman who can sell millions of books and magazines is now out to sell us a president. And after a two-day campaigning swing through New Hampshire, North Carolina and Iowa, it sure looks like Oprah Winfrey may succeed in crowning Barack Obama as the next U.S. President.
There's been plenty of talk — and I've done my share — about how we live in a celebrity-obsessed culture. How celebrities are fashion, beauty, lifestyle, romance and even charitable and environmental role models.
Now if Oprah, a daytime talk show host and magazine impresario can sway a presidential election, that surely seals it — we are officially living in a celebrity culture.
But despite all the 30,000-seat packed stadiums Oprah can fill with cheering fans, I'd like to give some comfort to the hand-wringers in the Hillary Clinton and Republican camps.
Oprah may not decide the fate of the 2008 presidential election if the eleven hundred plus respondents to a Starmagazine.com poll represents the true feelings of most American voters.
There could be a backlash to celebrity endorsements of political candidates — even to Oprah's personal pick. Sixty-nine percent of Star's respondents said they'd be less likely to vote for Barack Obama now that Oprah has endorsed him as a candidate. Only 31% said they'd be more likely.
Now, this response actually made me wonder if people just wanted to dispense with the politicians altogether and get right to it — vote directly for a celebrity and not just their political proxy.
And I could see that. Why wouldn't we want to elect Oprah? She's smart, she seems to care about average folks, she's articulate, she gives a great speech, she's the epitome of the American Dream — she came from nothing and became a self-made billionaire. Plus, she can recite a verse from the Bible, has no messy divorces in her past AND she has weight issues. Everyone can relate to that.
However, when asked if Oprah should just go for it and run for president herself, the poll was definitive — 72 percent said she shouldn't run. And if she did run, 67% wouldn't vote for her.
Since it seemed like one of the major reasons that George Bush was able to trump Al Gore in 2000 was that voters thought they'd rather have a beer with him than with Al. So we asked a key poll question: Who would you rather have over for Christmas dinner — Oprah, Barack or Hilary?
The answer — a vast majority — won't vote for Oprah but they'd much rather feed her than either of the two presidential candidates. Maybe, if Oprah can eat enough Christmas dinners she'll overcome the celebrity-endorsement backlash factor and be able to convince Americans on Barack's worthiness, one family at a time.
If the Starmagazine.com poll worries either Oprah or Barack, they should take some comfort in the fact that they don't have Barbara Streisand's endorsement to worry about. Almost 83% of the respondents are less likely to push the lever for Hillary, now that Streisand has endorsed her as president! Who knows how many more will flee now that Madonna has thrown her weight (even though she doesn't weigh all that much) behind Hillary.
I actually think this is all good news about the American public. "We don't need celebrities telling us what to do," responded one poll taker. "They should stick with what they know about — acting," said another. "People can use their own minds," responded a third. So there it is, we absolutely love our celebrities but we still know the right ways to let them influence us — to watch TV, buy movie and theater tickets, dress and do our hair and makeup better, and even to make a donation to a worthy cause that they have drawn to our attention. Their mess-ups on the other hand may even make us think twice about marrying ne'er-do-wells or indulging in behavior that requires rehab.
But they may not yet be capable of picking our President. Not even Oprah!
I'm relieved — how about you?
Related:
Oprah Winfrey: Phenomenal Woman, Phenomenal Endorsement [ETP]
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