Oprah Officially Backs Obama

The Never-ending Presidential Campaign

Although the official day of the election is still a little less than one year away, presidential candidate hopefuls have been hitting the campaign trail since the beginning of 2007. That means that by the time election day rolls around, these candidates will have been campaigning for almost two years.

With the election still so far away, most people have not even seriously considered who will win their vote for president. Now that Oprah Winfrey has joined the Obama camp, it is likely that things will change in people's minds and in the polls.

The Front Runners

According to the latest presidential polls, Hillary Clinton leads Barack Obama by a margin of 9% in the race for the Democratic presidential candidate. As you get down to the state specific polls, that margin becomes smaller. Throw Oprah Winfrey in the mix and it is guaranteed that the current 9% difference between Obama and Clinton will begin to shrink.

Why Oprah Chose Obama

In an interview with Larry King, the short answer to that question was "Because I know him." To further elaborate, Winfrey stated that she knew Obama well enough and believed in him strongly enough to fully back him for president in 2008.

What it All Means

No one really knows what the "Oprah-effect" will have on the Obama campaign. Traditionally, celebrity endorsements have not helped presidential hopefuls in the past. The difference here is that no other celebrity has ever had the clout that Oprah Winfrey has. If she can convince hundreds of thousands of people to go buy a book simply by saying she liked it, there really is no telling how much pull she will have with voters in the next upcoming election.