skippy the bush kangaroo

Sunday, December 09, 2007

iowa as tight as some of the candidates

mcclatchey papers are reporting that iowa is still a three-way race for the democrats:

"the democratic race is quite competitive," said brad coker, the pollster for mason-dixon polling and research, which conducted the surveys. "we've seen a tightening in iowa. obama's gained ground in new hampshire. and south carolina is close, as well."

the contest is closest in iowa, where the voting begins jan. 3 in town meeting-like precinct caucuses. clinton has the support of 27 percent of likely caucus attendees, obama 25 percent, and edwards 21 percent...

in new hampshire, clinton polled 30 percent, obama 27 percent and edwards 10 percent.

in south carolina, clinton led with 28 percent, obama had 25 percent and edwards 18 percent.
but in iowa, everyone is watching to see if oprah's campaigning for obama will produce any serious results for the candidate. csm:

call it the "oprah effect," a phenomenon the political world is watching warily. not because celebrity endorsements are new, but because ms. winfrey is more than a celebrity: she's a social icon, an earth mother, a television priestess of sorts whose predominantly female flock takes her words to heart.

"the problem with most celebrity endorsements is that there's no transferability between their talent and real credibility," says howard davidowitz, chairman of davidowitz & associates, a retail investment banking firm. "oprah is different. oprah has an army out there that really listens. she's one of the great marketing machines in history." …

celebrity endorsements have been a popular political tool for nearly a century. the government, for example, hired charlie chaplin to help sell war bonds in 1918, notes steven ross, a history professor at the university of southern california in los angeles. "historically, the real power of celebrities in politics has been getting people to show up for events," he says. "once they're there, they listen to what the candidate has to say."
we're not sure, but we think the christian science monitor just called oprah a "little tramp."

addendum: in a slightly related story, civil rights icon andrew young calls obama too young, and obama fires back that young is "too obama."

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posted by skippy at 11:42 AM |

2 Comments:

I think even the CSM can see the differences between Oprah and Charlie Chaplin, Skip...
commented by Blogger Carl, 12:01 PM PST  
Ha! You make good points about the media's coverage of the Democrats candidates. Why are they still shilling for the Republicans?
commented by Blogger Dr. Zaius, 3:07 PM PST  

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