First published on 07.01.2008.
Obama Barrack’s success at the Iowa polls was due in large part to a groundswell of support from the disaffected (mainly because of the Iraq war) or those previously disengaged from the electoral process (especially youth who are attracted by Obama’s vision for America). But it owed a lot also to the star power that the first-term Senator from Illinois was able to mobilize in his march towards the White House.
Earlier predictions suggested that in the battle for star power Hillary Clinton had the ultimate advantage. With Bill Clinton increasingly at her side, Hillary Clinton could marry her policy expertise and political resilience with his charisma as the ultimate alpha male campaigner.
Oprah at Obama’s election campaign. (Reuters Photo/ Jason Reed)
Yet, so far, the star power of Bill Clinton has been trumped by the magnetic influence of Oprah Winfrey – a result seemingly contrary to conventional wisdom. Oprah’s gradual ramping up of support for her fellow Chicagoan – from her signal on CNN’s Larry King Live in May that she was endorsing Obama, to her hosting a successful fundraiser in September at her Santa Barbara home, and eventually her announcement in November that she would campaign for him in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina – seemed to be at odds with his core priority. A strong argument could be made that what Obama required was not a new input of buzz but a more adequate measure of bite, with an appreciation that he has the gravitas to take on the presidency.
What has been underestimated is Oprah’s ability to act as a catalyst for domestic change. Oprah is distinctive from the plethora of celebrity activists who have become increasingly engaged on policy issues. Oprah has served as a conduit by which many of those activists reach a mass audience with respect to their specific causes. This is true of George Clooney on the Darfur crisis. And it is true of her work with Bono in publicizing the Product Red campaign. However, she remains an opinion shaper decidedly aloof from taking sides on policy debates.
One key feature of Oprah’s appeal is that she focuses attention on the personal as opposed to the public dimensions of self-improvement. Another source of her attraction is in her continued focus on the everyday needs and concerns of an American audience. As witnessed by Her Oprah Angel Network, she has extended her philanthropic activities overseas towards Africa. Yet, she has placed firm limitations on how far she moved from the local to the international. In the public domain she has not become a celebrity diplomat along the lines of Bono, lobbying the G8 leaders on issues of debt, health or poverty. Nor in the personal domain has she entered the world of international adoption, along the line of Madonna or Angelina Jolie. Significantly as well it is in the international arena where she has met her most serious setback, amidst the recent controversy over the running of Oprah’s all-girl Leadership Academy in South Africa.
The mobilization of both Oprah’s symbolic brand and instrumental marketing machine provides the Obama campaign with some advantages beyond simply the buzz of an association with a massively popular media star. It allows Obama’s credibility to stretch beyond the anti-war protestors or the youthful enthusiasts to reach into Middle America. And it links the sense of change and even national redemption at the core of the Obama campaign not only with Obama’s own personal narrative but Oprah’s status as a national therapist.
Such a role inevitably encompasses enormous risk. By discarding her space as a celebrity above partisanship the personal stakes for Oprah being able to deliver Obama’s success are enormous. And although Iowa jumps out as one impressive step, the competitive struggle of star power is far from over in helping determine not only the outcome of the primaries but the re-definition of celebrities in America. In the past celebrities wanted to be the exclusive stars of the show. Oprah bends this model by showing that celebrity status can be amplified by acting as am intermediary between a rising political power and his visionary call for the re-making of American politics.
