Barack & Oprah, Hillary & Babs

By: Dean Reynolds
Topics: Politics

(CBS)

Dean Reynolds is a CBS News correspondent based in Chicago. He's covering the Barack Obama campaign.

Barely a day after Barack Obama's campaign announced Oprah will stump with their candidate next month comes word that Hillary Clinton has snared her own celebrity endorser: Barbra Streisand.

All of which begs a question and I'll put it as gently as I can:

Who cares?

Well, evidently a lot of people think people they know will follow the lead of Oprah or Babs. The responses run something like this:

"Oh no, I wouldn't be affecterd by what some celebrity does or says, but my neighbor would."

That would be the shallow, dim-witted neighbor we all live near, I guess. The poor soul who cannot make up his or her mind without a little nudge from a star.

One lady we spoke to in Concord, N.H., said Oprah's Obama leanings must mean "that she knows something nobody else knows." That may be true, but it's not as if these candidates are mysterious to the rest of us, harboring secrets about their qualifications that only Funny Girl gets to hear.

Please.

The political calculus is that, yes, some folks are dumb enough to vote whichever way a celebrity tells them to. But there is also the fact that by listening to Streisand or Winfrey, people will stick around long enough to hear or read about the candidate they've endorsed.

It could be a factor in a close race. A very, very close race.

Dean Reynolds
Dean Reynolds is a CBS News National Correspondent based in Chicago.

9 Comments +

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by cjii2 November 28, 2007 7:22 PM EST: "If any group of citizens is uniquely unqualified to tell someone else how to vote, it%u2019s those of us who live in the sheltered, privileged arena of celebrityhood." Pat Sajak

READ FULL ARTICLE: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=23656; Reply to this comment


by jmpw1 November 28, 2007 6:45 PM EST: This is the most glorious example yet of the difference between Hillary and Barack. What percentage of people under 35 do you think can name even one Barbara Streisand song? She is as irrelevant as Hillary.Barbara Streisand-she''s a relic- that''s the counter to Oprah?! Too funny! The crowd should be great! Hope they have low-sodium snacks. Mahjong Players for Hillary! National Shuffleboard Association for Hillary!

Times are a-changin''

Obama ''08!; Reply to this comment


by jmpw1 November 28, 2007 6:44 PM EST: This is the most glorious example yet of the difference between Hillary and Barack. What percentage of people under 35 do you think can name even one Barbara Streisand song? She is as irrelevant as Hillary.Barbara Streisand- that''s the counter to Oprah! Too funny! The crowd should be great! Hope they have low-sodium snacks. Mahjong Players for Hillary! National Shuffleboard Association for Hillary!

Times are a-changin''

Obama ''08!; Reply to this comment


by lanefiller1 November 28, 2007 2:56 AM EST: Anyone looking for some new Hillary video from an SC stop and an interesting commentary on how race is impacting that primary should try: http://goupstate.us/index.php/lanefiller/2007/11/27/hillary_and_the_black_men_of_god; Reply to this comment


by truth131 November 28, 2007 12:12 AM EST: I have no problem with "Babs" supporting Hillary Clinton, nor with Oprah supporting Obama. Oprah being a spokesperson for Obama will only hurt his chances of winning. We are now seeing Oprah exhibiting poor judgment in very important circumstances. For example, she picked employees that would allegedly abuse most or all of the children at her Africa school. Another example: Oprah had a total of 5 full shows that were infomercial propaganda for a world wide scam known as "The Secret". "The Secret" is a cult-like religion which is a religion of greed. Oprah never apologized for her many shows of propaganda and misleading her viewers and promoting a product that is the subject of world wide criminal investigations and lawsuits for fraud. Not a word of protest from Oprah about this "Secret" scam. Perhaps this is because Oprah herself has become an elitist obsessed with being greedy and arrogantly bragging about how wealthy she is.It is one thing for Obama to have her do fundraisers at a distance, but to be his spokesperson! It makes one wonder if Obama too is an elitist--not something our country needs. We have had 7 years of that already. On the other hand, perhaps Obama has allowed himself to be deceived by Oprah''s nice fluffy words and then discounting her bad deeds. If so, Obama should stop criticizing Hillary for being deceived by Bush''s lying us into a war against Iraq.Oprah being part of Obama''s campaign will not help him.; Reply to this comment


by jimbosouth November 27, 2007 9:21 PM EST: Let''s see now. Oprah endorses Obama. Striesand endorses Clinton. Any particular reason why any of our 350 million people should care one iota?; Reply to this comment


by guysdigdirt November 27, 2007 9:01 PM EST: Anytime a celeb from the entertainment arena starts making political speaches, endorsements or statements I wonder why the heck they think they know what they are talking about. Streisand & Oprah know about real life like a Clinton knows how to tell the truth. It is totally foreign to them.; Reply to this comment


by Geminate November 27, 2007 8:55 PM EST: Why should I care?

Why should I care?

Girls of fifteen
Sexually knowing
The ushers are sniffing
Eu-de-cologning
The seats are seductive
Celibate sitting
Pretty girls digging
Prettier women.

Magically bored
On a quiet street corner
Free frustration
In our minds and our toes
Quiet stormwater
My generation

Uppers and downers
Either way blood flows.

Inside outside. Leave me alone.
Inside outside. Nowhere is home.
Inside outside, Where have I been?
Out of my brain on the five fifteen.

On a raft in the quarry
Slowly sinking.
On the back of a lorry
Holy hitching.
Dreadfully sorry
Apple scrumping.
Born in the war
Birthday punching.

He man drag
In the glittering ballroom
Greyly outrageous
In my high heel shoes
Tightly undone
They know what they''re showing
Sadly ecstatic
That their heros are news.

Why should I care?

Why should I care?; Reply to this comment


by zippitydood1 November 27, 2007 7:38 PM EST: Barbra Streisand? I thought she was dead. Guess she has to do something to get her name back in the papers; Reply to this comment

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