(Photo: Harpo, Inc., via Reuters)Oprah Winfrey grandly demonstrated her support of Senator Barack Obama last weekend with a lavish celebrity fund-raiser at her California home that collected an estimated $3 million for his presidential campaign.
But will her backing also translate into votes? And more to the point, could Ms. Winfrey drum up support for Mr. Obama on her powerhouse talk show, which attracts millions of daily viewers?
Ms. Winfrey can indeed promote Mr. Obama’s candidacy as freely as she wishes. According to a Federal Election Commission regulation, commentary by the media does not count as a campaign contribution unless the broadcasting station is owned or controlled by the candidate.
And equal-time regulations would not limit Ms. Winfrey’s activities either, so she could have Mr. Obama as a regular guest on her show, but leave out the other candidates, said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, the director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. (In 2000, both Al Gore and George W. Bush appeared on the show.)
“There is no restraint on commercial broadcasters,” Ms. Jamieson said. “Rush Limbaugh can go on the air and say whatever he wants. I don’t think there’s any issue with Oprah.”
Mr. Obama, a fellow Chicagoan shown above with Ms. Winfrey and his wife, Michelle, is the first presidential candidate Ms. Winfrey has ever endorsed, and the fund-raiser at her home exhibited her clout, at least in Hollywood circles, by drawing Cindy Crawford, Sidney Poitier and Chris Rock.
Source : thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com
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