Oprah and the political process...

Oprah is supporting Barrack Obama, and recently stumped for him in South Carolina, attracting 30,000 spectators. But were they there for political reasons or because of the ”O” factor? Politics is a funny business, and star power rarely translates into votes. People that tend to vote in primaries are a “special” breed. I am one of them. I don’t give a hoot who Oprah endorses, or Susan Sarandon, or Julia Roberts endorses, I vote for the candidate that appeals to me and me only.

Poll after poll suggests, people that are likely to vote, and even more likely to vote in a primary, are not impacted by celebrity or other politician’s endorsements. They do have an impact on the “casual” voter, but they often don’t vote, and they rarely vote in primaries. So did Oprah expose Barrack to an audience he may not have had before? Probably. But unless Oprah is expected to show up at every polling place in every state, during every primary, it probably won’t be a huge impact.

Besides, the Clinton “machine” will begin calling in the favors and dolling out the dollars to get their “supporters” to start doing the “hard” work of destroying Obama, twisting the arms of party loyalists, and calling in the “chits” they have divvied out over the years. That is what will bring in the votes. Sad but true…