Style Over Substance and the Oprah Effect: Winfrey Rumbles, Clinton Stumbles

This weekend, the 2008 presidential race felt like a scene out of Disney's High School Musical as brainiac Barack Obama was squired across three states by head cheerleader Oprah Winfrey - the world's best prom date.

Though she didn't bring pompoms, Oprah put plenty of rah-rah in her effort to help crown him prom king. Her thoughtfully articulated, heartfelt, and intensely personal endorsement of his candidacy impressed even hardened CNN correspondent Candy Crowley, who uncharacteristically observed, "Winfrey has a future. It was a great speech, and she is a gifted speaker."

In the here-and-now, Oprah was smart enough to poke fun at her own brand, as she acknowledged that supporting a presidential candidate is very different from hosting an on-air book club or promoting a 'Favorite Things' show. "And so I bathed," she joked, "yes, I did."

(What a refreshing change from the usual stump speech - Oprah bathed for Obama. How can you even question why women love her so?)

Like a cleverly crafted time-share pitch, however, there was a catch for the average person who wanted to see Oprah speak. Many are now indentured servants to the Obama campaign, which required them to commit as volunteers in order to get tickets. (It's a doubtful tactic, as coercion of this sort rarely translates to passionate support and reliable votes.)

But, as the saying goes, it's all in the timing, and the 'Oprah-bama' appearances have coincided with a decline in Hillary Clinton's poll numbers. In an attempt to steal some of Oprah's thunder, Clinton trotted out her mother Dorothy Rodham and daughter Chelsea for some intergenerational photo ops. But that won't compensate for the recent failings of the Clinton campaign, all carefully detailed by About.com US Liberal Politics Guide Deborah White in her blog.

No one can agree on whether or not Oprah will have any lasting effect. But for the thousands of women who got to see their idol up close, maybe that doesn't really matter.

Photo (c) Scott Olson / Getty Images

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