Oprah Winfrey endorsed Barack Obama’s presidential bid in May, but now she’s mulling going a giant step further and actively campaigning for the Illinois Democrat.
The media superstar is in discussions with Obama’s advisers about her possible role in the campaign, which could include stumping or appearing in media ads, the Washington Post reports.
“The idea of her appearing in television ads and other appeals is very much in play,” according to the Post.
On Saturday, Sept. 8, Oprah is hosting her first-ever presidential fundraiser at her estate in Montecito, Calif., which is expected to raise more than $3 million for Obama’s campaign.
But Oprah said in a recent interview with Larry King: “My money isn’t going to make any difference. My value to him – my support of him – is probably worth more than any other check that I could write.”
NewsMax Magazine previewed the role Winfrey could play in the presidential race in a May cover story, “Obama & the Oprah Factor.”
“When you think about Oprah’s success in selling books, you can’t laugh off the fact that she can sway many, many people,” Donna Brazile, who managed Al Gore’s 2000 campaign, told the Post.
“She has a very large following – and we’re talking about people who hang on her every word.”
In addition to her TV show, which reaches nearly 8.5 million viewers daily, her media outlets include a popular Web site, a magazine with a circulation of 2 million, and a weekly newsletter that reaches 420,000 fans.
Oprah made it clear in a Web chat in late August that for the 2008 campaign, Obama and his wife Michelle will be her only political guests, adding:
“It would be really disingenuous of me to be sitting up there interviewing other people … pretending to be objective.”
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