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player ready...Oprah Winfrey in Chicago, Wednesday Sept. 27, 2006. (baiduhai photo by Jose More.)
by John McCormick
DES MOINES — The presidential campaign for Sen. Barack Obama confirmed this morning what has long been expected: Oprah Winfrey is going to hit the campaign trail with her favorite politician.
The talk show star will join the Illinois Democrat for stops in Iowa, South Carolina and New Hampshire on Dec. 8 and Dec. 9. She will attend two events with him in Iowa and one in each of the other states.
The Dec. 8 Iowa stops will be in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, the state’s largest cities and media markets, while those on Dec. 9 will be in Columbia, S.C., and Manchester, N.H.
There is great debate about how much celebrity endorsements help presidential candidates, but Winfrey’s presence is certain to generate a significant buzz in the early voting states. She could also help Obama with women, a key electoral demographic.
Tickets for the events, likely to draw large crowds, will become available on Dec. 3. In Iowa, the campaign plans to offer training for how to participate in the state’s rapidly approaching Jan. 3 caucuses.
The tickets will be free, but the campaign is asking for some political help in return. To secure “preferred seating” in Iowa, for example, the campaign says people must either “commit four hours to volunteering for Barack’s campaign” or “attend a caucus training with your local organizer or precinct captain.”
In September, Winfrey hosted a fundraiser at her estate in California where she helped raise $3 million for Obama.