It’s the big Oprah day in Iowa — the TV star will appear at campaign events in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids with Barack Obama.
A poll by The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press showed 69 percent of voters would not be swayed by an endorsement by Oprah — compared with 15 percent who said it would make them more likely to vote for the candidate and 15 percent who said it would make them less likely to do so.
Those whose endorsement would have a greater positive impact included the governor of your state, former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and your minister, priest or rabbi.
But who is really swaying ordinary voters in Iowa? A few anecdotes from the campaign trail suggest family members are putting on the pressure.
Des Moines voter Allen Levitt, 73, attended a rally for Hillary Clinton on Friday but said he was still trying to decide between the former First Lady and Republican Mitt Romney.
His wife, Kay Levitt, 72, was twisting his arm to vote for Hillary: “I’m working on him,” she said.
At a campaign stop for Romney, Dixie Belluchi-Watters, 46, said her 12-year-old son Tucker had convinced her and her husband to back the former Massachusetts governor.
“He’s the one who knows all the candidates — he’s met Romney once already,” Belluchi-Watters said of her son, who wore a “Mitt Romney for President” t-shirt and campaign sticker.
But Tucker was feeling the pressure too — his choice of a Republican had not gone over well with classmates and neighborhood kids. “They put F-Mitt Romney” signs on our fence,” his mom sighed. “We live in a liberal neighborhood.”
So who could sway your vote? Friends? Family? Neighbors?
– Photo credit: Reuters/Lucas Jackson
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2 comments so far
I read your article on Yahoo News, “Oprah draws Iowa crowds for Democrat Obama”. Thank God you mentioned that they are both from Chicago and both black. I’m not sure how many people in this country were unaware of this.
And…. We wonder why we still have racial issues in the USA…
- Posted by Michael ConradYeah, I thought it was redundant, if not downright odd that they had to mention that both Obama and Winfrey were black. Maybe everybody doesn’t know they both hail from Chicago, but their ancestry is obvious to anyone with sight.
I would hope we’re beyond the point wehre endorsements are the nasis for our favoring one candidate over another, especially, personal endorsements like this. I guess that makes it easier for lazy voters who don’t know the candidates or their policy positions. Information and knowledge should guide your vote as you calculate which candidate has the answers to the questions that matter to you as we try to go forward in this country after 8 disastrous years. The next President inherits a very leaky ship of state.
- Posted by Bill