The Oprah Effect Revisited

In light of Obama's victory in Iowa and his strong showing in New Hampshire, its worth quickly revisiting Oprah's involvement for a moment. The MSM is so simple that they often miss the boat on whats really going on. In the case of Oprah's endorsement, people, including Dr. Laura, are also missing the boat.

The Obama campaign was very smart in obtaining Oprah's support and they were genius in how they used her. They went on a three state tour, before the IA caucus and NH and SC primaries and used her celebrity to the get the names, phone numbers and email of 60,000 potential voters. You had to give up your info for tickets, you got better seats if you volunteered, it was genius. They have been working those 60,000 voters ever since, and turned them into victory in IA, a very strong performance in NH and potentially a victory in South Carolina. Oprah was the sizzle and they provided the steak. She made the pitch and they moved in to close the sale. Very smart. It was not about a celebrity endorsement, it was about getting a shot at 60,000 voters and they totally succeeded.

That success is an intriguing predicate to a discussion about what else is possible in impacting public policy if the black elite and the political class joined forces to press for change on other public policy issues facing black America.

The Oprah Effect: Beyond the Obama Campaign

Oprah's engagement in the Obama campaign ought to cause black america to pause and consider the consequences if America's black elite were to unite for political purposes. Oprah's high profile support of Barack really brings into focus other possibilities in the political realm. Two areas where I often wish for greater engagement from black america's wealthy elite are politics and neighborhood development. The black elite is active on the charitable front. Few entertainment stars who have achieved some level of success don't have a foundation or a commitment to a particular charitable effort, almost uniformly within the education sector. But I know of few efforts of the black elite that support neighborhood development initiatives. On the political scene, there is no unified effort national in scope which is supported by a coalition of the black elite in terms of their money and their influence. That ought to change.

As I watch Oprah wield her influence and reach on Obama's behalf, making herself the lure that engaged thousands to get involved in the political process of his campaign, I can't help but wonder: what might be possible if the black elite harnessed their influence, money and reach to support political efforts, candidates and issues of import to the black community?

Hillary Responds to the Attack of the Double O

Hillary's response to this weekends three state Double O onslaught was to deploy Maya Angelou via radio in South Carolina, to counter the Obama/Oprah offensive. But I don't think that is hardly going to cut it. Obama made major inroads into South Carolina this weekend. 30,000 people attended the SC rally with Oprah. The Obama campaign was very shrewd and demonstrated a clear understanding of their business. Oprah's job was to fill the seats and make the pitch. Obama and his team's job was to close the sale and do the conversions. They obtained the voter information for everyone who attended and they were making 65,000 phones calls today to follow up with each every one. Without a doubt, he in one weekend struck deep and hard into the SC electorate, drawing a crowd of mostly women, many of them African American, a segment he was losing ground with. I suspect he made up some of that ground and that his rallies this weekend have given him an even firmer foothold on SC territory.

Oprah was extremely effective in directly attacking the idea that Hillary is more experienced and seasoned than Obama. She did a great job of positioning Obama as the candidate of change vs. Hillary. Hillary's response with radio ads from Maya to my mind betrays her weak point: she is the establishment candidate. For an electorate interested in change, she is not the candidate. Many of her endorsements reflect her establishment status (Andrew Young, Maya Anjelou, Quincy Jones etc.). The Obama campaign is getting better at painting her in this way. So this weekend is a major victory in the election war.

Hillary's response with the Maya Angelou ads can certainly be considered only part of her response. She has a highly organized campaign and organization wins elections. She's smart and she's ruthless and not without weapons of her own, such as Bill and plenty of money too.

Obama is picking up the big mo. He's challenging her in Iowa, competing in New Hampshire and may perhaps have generated momentum in SC. He's fighting an intense three state war for the early primary states and as the primaries get closer, the gloves are coming off. Lets get ready to ruuummmbbblleee!