Kathianne
04-08-2008, 07:58 PM
One would have thought...
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0408/9427.html
Obama supporter Oprah takes a big dive
By: Costas Panagopoulos
April 8, 2008 01:28 PM EST
Much hay was made nearly a year ago when Oprah Winfrey announced that she would support — and campaign for — Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama. Her effect in boosting support for Obama in early primary and caucus states like Iowa (which he won), New Hampshire (which he lost) and even South Carolina (which he won) is debatable.
After all, according to a national survey of Democrats conducted in December 2007 by ABC News and The Washington Post, 82 percent of respondents claimed Oprah’s endorsement would make no difference in their vote, while 8 percent said it would make them more likely to vote for Obama and 10 percent indicated it would make them less likely to do so.
But what has received far less attention is the impact Oprah’s endorsement has had on her own popularity. Long considered the “queen of daytime TV,” Oprah Winfrey has enjoyed sky-high popularity as a media personality for two decades. “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” launched in September 1986, is currently the longest-running daytime program on television and is the highest-rated talk show in American television history.
Within six months of when “The Oprah Winfrey Show” was launched, 85 percent of Americans already knew of Oprah, and her favorability with Americans had already reached 61 percent, according to an April 1987 survey conducted by Times Mirror.
Ten years following the launch of her talk show, the January 1996 Survey on American Political Culture found that more than three-quarters (78 percent) of Americans held a favorable opinion of Oprah.
Survey data suggest Americans held Oprah in high regard throughout the decade that followed. In December 1997, an NBC News and Wall Street Journal poll showed that more Americans admired Oprah than President Bill Clinton, former President Ronald Reagan and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, an icon at the height of the dot-com boom.
In a July 1999 Roper poll that queried respondents about women they admired or respected who had lived in the 20th century, Oprah Winfrey was selected by 26 percent of respondents, second only to Mother Teresa (who was mentioned by 33 percent) but beating out women including Susan B. Anthony, Billie Jean King, Coretta Scott King, Madonna, Marie Curie, Madeleine Albright, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Sandra Day O’Connor, Jackie Onassis, Meryl Streep, Elizabeth Taylor, Golda Meir, Princess Diana, Barbara Walters, Tina Turner, Indira Gandhi, Rosa Parks and Margaret Thatcher.
By June 2003, Fox News/Opinion Dynamics found that 60 percent of Americans found Oprah to be a more powerful woman than senator and former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was selected by 28 percent.
Oprah’s favorability ratings also remained consistently — and unusually — high. In November 2003, Gallup found that 73 percent of Americans held favorable views about Oprah. Seventy-four percent of Americans reported favorable impressions of Oprah in a January 2007 Gallup/USA Today poll.
And then, seemingly out of nowhere, Oprah announced on CNN’s “Larry King Live” on May 1, 2007, that she would officially endorse her longtime friend Barack Obama for the presidency — the first time she had ever thrown her support behind a political candidate. “I think that my value to him, my support of him, is probably worth more than any check,” Oprah told Larry King. At the time, Oprah did not indicate whether she would campaign for Obama.
Almost instantly, Oprah’s popularity in America plummeted. An August 2007 CBS News poll showed only 61 percent of Americans were favorably disposed to her — a considerable drop of 13 percentage points from a similar survey conducted just seven months prior. An October 2007 Gallup/USA Today poll that showed Oprah with a slightly higher 66 percent favorability still reflected a drop.
....
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0408/9427.html
Obama supporter Oprah takes a big dive
By: Costas Panagopoulos
April 8, 2008 01:28 PM EST
Much hay was made nearly a year ago when Oprah Winfrey announced that she would support — and campaign for — Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama. Her effect in boosting support for Obama in early primary and caucus states like Iowa (which he won), New Hampshire (which he lost) and even South Carolina (which he won) is debatable.
After all, according to a national survey of Democrats conducted in December 2007 by ABC News and The Washington Post, 82 percent of respondents claimed Oprah’s endorsement would make no difference in their vote, while 8 percent said it would make them more likely to vote for Obama and 10 percent indicated it would make them less likely to do so.
But what has received far less attention is the impact Oprah’s endorsement has had on her own popularity. Long considered the “queen of daytime TV,” Oprah Winfrey has enjoyed sky-high popularity as a media personality for two decades. “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” launched in September 1986, is currently the longest-running daytime program on television and is the highest-rated talk show in American television history.
Within six months of when “The Oprah Winfrey Show” was launched, 85 percent of Americans already knew of Oprah, and her favorability with Americans had already reached 61 percent, according to an April 1987 survey conducted by Times Mirror.
Ten years following the launch of her talk show, the January 1996 Survey on American Political Culture found that more than three-quarters (78 percent) of Americans held a favorable opinion of Oprah.
Survey data suggest Americans held Oprah in high regard throughout the decade that followed. In December 1997, an NBC News and Wall Street Journal poll showed that more Americans admired Oprah than President Bill Clinton, former President Ronald Reagan and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, an icon at the height of the dot-com boom.
In a July 1999 Roper poll that queried respondents about women they admired or respected who had lived in the 20th century, Oprah Winfrey was selected by 26 percent of respondents, second only to Mother Teresa (who was mentioned by 33 percent) but beating out women including Susan B. Anthony, Billie Jean King, Coretta Scott King, Madonna, Marie Curie, Madeleine Albright, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Sandra Day O’Connor, Jackie Onassis, Meryl Streep, Elizabeth Taylor, Golda Meir, Princess Diana, Barbara Walters, Tina Turner, Indira Gandhi, Rosa Parks and Margaret Thatcher.
By June 2003, Fox News/Opinion Dynamics found that 60 percent of Americans found Oprah to be a more powerful woman than senator and former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was selected by 28 percent.
Oprah’s favorability ratings also remained consistently — and unusually — high. In November 2003, Gallup found that 73 percent of Americans held favorable views about Oprah. Seventy-four percent of Americans reported favorable impressions of Oprah in a January 2007 Gallup/USA Today poll.
And then, seemingly out of nowhere, Oprah announced on CNN’s “Larry King Live” on May 1, 2007, that she would officially endorse her longtime friend Barack Obama for the presidency — the first time she had ever thrown her support behind a political candidate. “I think that my value to him, my support of him, is probably worth more than any check,” Oprah told Larry King. At the time, Oprah did not indicate whether she would campaign for Obama.
Almost instantly, Oprah’s popularity in America plummeted. An August 2007 CBS News poll showed only 61 percent of Americans were favorably disposed to her — a considerable drop of 13 percentage points from a similar survey conducted just seven months prior. An October 2007 Gallup/USA Today poll that showed Oprah with a slightly higher 66 percent favorability still reflected a drop.
....