The Big O

Oprah Winfrey has shown she can make best-sellers out of books, fads out of diet plans and Dr. Phil out of Dr. Phil. But can she make a front-runner out of Obama?



Mr. Conventional Wisdom says no: Celebrity endorsements don’t move voters. But that’s not what Oprah does.



She creates The Buzz of The New.



She wants to make Obama to Hillary what Prius is to the SUV and Mac is to PC. Or what JFK was to Nixon or Clinton (Bill) was to Mondale, Dukakis and Cuomo.



With one campaign swing, Oprah ignited an Obama Buzz. Just three weeks before the Iowa caucuses.



Our culture loves to be in on The Buzz. We long to embrace The New.



Obama and Oprah have given the sophisticated political consumers of Iowa and New Hampshire the chance to create The New.



But the New doesn’t always win in the long run. Ask New Coke.



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Gary Pearce

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The Big O

Oprah Winfrey has shown she can make best-sellers out of books, fads out of diet plans and Dr. Phil out of Dr. Phil. But can she make a front-runner out of Obama?



Mr. Conventional Wisdom says no: Celebrity endorsements don’t move voters. But that’s not what Oprah does.



She creates The Buzz of The New.



She wants to make Obama to Hillary what Prius is to the SUV and Mac is to PC. Or what JFK was to Nixon or Clinton (Bill) was to Mondale, Dukakis and Cuomo.



With one campaign swing, Oprah ignited an Obama Buzz. Just three weeks before the Iowa caucuses.



Our culture loves to be in on The Buzz. We long to embrace The New.



Obama and Oprah have given the sophisticated political consumers of Iowa and New Hampshire the chance to create The New.



But the New doesn’t always win in the long run. Ask New Coke.



Click Here to discuss and comment on this and other articles.

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Gary Pearce

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