CNN: GOP Oprah boycott not hurting ratings David Edwards and Nick Juliano

Published: Monday September 15, 2008





Print This Email This A group of Republican women is angry that ultra-popular talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who has endorsed Barack Obama for president, won't invite GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin to speak to her show's massive audience.



Oprah's backing Obama is unprecedented, and since announcing her endorsement last year, the Chicago-based host has said she won't open her show to any presidential candidates. Obama's only appearances on the show came in 2005 and 2006, before he'd officially launched his presidential campaign.



Both prominent Chicagoans, Oprah and Obama knew each other before he became a nationally known politician. She said it was that connection that led her to endorse him but pledged not to use her show or magazine to promote his candidacy.



"I made the decision that I have the right to do it as an American citizen," she said last year. "But I will not use my platform. I can use my own personal voice."



That reasoning isn't good enough for the Florida Federation of Republican Women, which has launched a nationwide boycott of all things Oprah.



It doesn't seem to be working.



An Oprah spokesperson tells CNN the show's ratings have been climbing all year and issues of O, the host's magazine, continue to fly off newsstand shelves.



Oprah raised millions for Obama and campaigned with the Illinois senator in the months leading up to the Democratic primaries, but her visibility on the campaign trail began to fade as the campaign wore on and even once Obama emerged as the nominee.



One observer suggested that Obama was hurting Obama's favorability ratings even if she continued to snag viewers.



Some Hillary Clinton backers were upset that Oprah -- an icon for many women -- would choose Obama over the first woman with a real shot at getting to the White House. The Palin supporters calling for the boycott seem to be targeting the same emotions.



This video is from CNN's American Morning, broadcast September 15, 2008.









Download video via RawReplay.com







