I find it amusing when pundits or other campaigns try to minimize the affect that Oprah will have on this race. Oprah is the rare case of a celebrity whose endorsement has a huge upside but essentially no downside. Let's look at what she brings to the campaign.
First, Oprah brings new people into the conversation. You know all those undecided voters out there, the ones who don't like to think about the race until about a month before the election? Well, here it is a month before the election and a lot of those undecided voters are spending a good chunk of their Saturday or Sunday listening to Oprah introduce Barack Obama, and then to Senator Obama lay out his vision in his best Jefferson-Jackson style. Ask any campaign whether they'd like instant access to a few thousand previously untouched voters. Never mind -- you know the answer.
Second, there's the free press. All of the press coverage of the Oprah-Obama event has been positive. It's been about the buzz, the people who want to see Oprah, the fact that Oprah is backing Obama. We're talking radio hosts on WZID 95.7, the most-listened to pop radio station in New Hampshire. TV hosts on our lone network affiliate. This is news with a capital 'O' and it's the kind of publicity that money can't buy. But why is all the coverage so positive? That's because...
Nobody hates Oprah. Really. I'm no fan of her show myself, and frankly I thought her acting to be mediocre. But even so, I respect her business acumen and the way she has used her position to do some pretty darn positive things. She gets people to buy books. Need I say more? I don't care if they read 1 in 4 that they purchase, she gets people to buy books. Beyond that, nobody I know dislikes her. She's not like a Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, Barbra Streisand, or even George Clooney, all of whom alienate some people by wearing their politics on their sleeves.
I suppose you could be forgiven for wondering whether maybe Oprah would misfire in the unfamiliar world of politics. Having seen her introduction of Obama in Iowa, I'd say she hit the right notes. She had all the characteristics of this campaign: positive, focusing on the candidate and on the positive change he can bring, at this moment, when we need it.
Finally, I'd like to debunk a myth that I've helped perpetuate, which is the idea that people are going to these events just to see Oprah. It turns out that's only partially true. I say this because I have three neighbors who are going to the event. Two of them kind of surprised me, because I knew their parents, at least, were died in the wool Republicans. I also didn't see them as big Oprah fans, but one never assumes...
Well, in talking to these fine folks about getting their tickets, I found that they weren't going to see Oprah at all -- they were going to this event because they hadn't managed to see Obama in person yet, and they really wanted to see him! That's anecdotal, to be sure, but it's proof that the buzz isn't just about Oprah.
I'm sure the polls over the next week will be in the news to see whether there was an "Oprah Effect" or an "Oprah Bounce." I admit that I'm interested to find out as well, but woe be unto any who think that this momentum is just about Oprah. It's the other O -- Obama -- that always has and always will matter in this race. |
