Myths about the power of Oprah

Daily Camera - CO,USA - “The Oprah Winfrey Show” airs in more than 140 countries, but the woman Time magazine proclaimed The Queen of All Media has only thrown her support to a presidential candidate in one: the United States. In a move unprecedented in her show’s 22-year history, Winfrey announced last fall that she was endorsing Democrat Barack Obama’s bid for the presidency. In September 2007, she hosted Stevie Wonder, Cindy Crawford and Chris Rock, among others, at a fund-raiser at her estate near Santa Barbara, Calif., that brought in more than $3 million for the Illinois senator. She hit the campaign trail to rally supporters for Obama in the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

And this month, in response to a report that she was refusing requests from her own staff to interview Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on her show, Winfrey explained in a statement that, even though she was taking her first public stance in support of a candidate, she had decided not to have any specific candidate appear on her program. “I agree that Sarah Palin would be a fantastic interview, and I would love to have her on after the campaign is over,” she said. So no couch-jumping for Palin, or Obama, for that matter, until after Nov. 4.