Manchester, N.H. — Oprah Winfrey called Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) "the candidate who can change America" in a New Hampshire speech Sunday night that concluded a three-state tour intended to put her star power behind the Obama campaign.
Citing his “ear for eloquence and a tongue for the unvarnished truth,” she said, “He’s not afraid to talk about what race means to this country.”
{mosads}“If you’re going to choose, that choice should be Barack Obama,” Winfrey told a roaring crowd assembled on Sunday night in the Manchester, N.H. Verizon Center.
Echoing remarks she made over the last few days in South Carolina and Iowa, the billionaire actress and television celebrity trumpeted Obama’s work as a community organizer and a state senator, arguing, “Experience in the hallways of Washington do not compare to experience on the pathways of life.”
Winfrey’s New Hampshire visit capped a three-day tour through the early states in the hotly contested Democratic presidential primary in which she broadcast her endorsement of the Illinois senator.
This last appearance attracted a smaller crowd compared with the packed arenas n Iowa and South Carolina. Roughly 8,500 people braved the frosty New Hampshire weather, not quite filling the 10,000 seat stadium, according to the campaign. By contrast, nearly 30,000 thronged the arena in South Carolina to see Winfrey.
Obama is in a fierce competition with Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) for black and women voters, and his campaign hopes Winfrey’s endorsement will give him a crucial edge with such voters in the early primary states.
Winfrey, who holds sway over the shopping and reading habits of a large swath of woman through her popular television show and magazine, dismissed the notion that her fans would flock automatically to her presidential choice.
“I know you all know the difference between book clubs and favorite things and free refrigerators,” she said.
Winfrey, who has never endorsed a political candidate before, said she felt “a responsibility at this point in time” to step forward for Obama. She assured the audience that she had done her homework before leaping onto the stage for the Democrat: “I’m not going to step out here for somebody who is going to disappoint me later on.”
A New Hampshire voter, Lisa Merrill, who said she was still mulling which Democrat she would support in the New Hampshire primary, doubted that the speech would affect her vote.
“I do like Oprah but I don’t think it’s going to influence me a bit.”
Another Democrat in the audience, Alexis Jackson, said she respected Oprah but that her endorsement wouldn’t affect her vote. She said she would likely vote for former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson or Obama.
“I think it’s shame she will influence some people’s votes,” Jackson said, since they would be voting for Obama “because they like her not because they’re listening to him.”