Getting her vote

It was back in April that I reported Oprah Winfrey's visit with Ellen DeGeneres on her daytime talk show and Winfrey re-emphasizing she will back Sen. Barack Obama in his White House run rather Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"I believe it's time for a fresh, new voice in the White House," Winfrey said.

"I like Hillary. But I'm behind Sen. Obama."

Now comes word about Winfrey gathering her celeb friends like Jamie Foxx and Beyonce to attend a top-notch fund-raising dinner in September at her California mansion to help Obama on the road to being elected. The party's ticket price will be the maximum $2,300 allowed.

According to wire service reports, the latest mandatory reports filed by Obama's and Clinton's camps show close numbers in their campaign banks, with Clinton at $63 million and Illinois Sen. Obama at $59 million.

But Oprah's value and contribution is something far greater than $$$$.

It's her name and blessing that well may provide Obama's magic carpet ride to the White House.

Remember, her talk show alone has a viewership of more than 25 million, and then there's also the power of the press generated by her magazine and Web site.

And this wouldn't be the first time a major media name used public influence to elect a U.S. president.

I'm not talking about gossip columnist Walter Winchell's influences on the American people to help Franklin Delano Roosevelt during his presidency. (Winchell's boss William Randolph Hearst hated F.D.R. and would never have allowed his columnists to help put him in the oval office.)

I'm referring to the late legendary CBS broadcaster Arthur Godfrey, who died in 1983, and how he used his "aw shucks" charm with women viewers to get Dwight D. Eisenhower elected.

Andy Rooney of CBS "60 Minutes" fame started his career working as a writer for Godfrey, whom he still refers to as "one of the best media politicians with the American public."

Rooney told CNN's Larry King that when Tex McCrary "induced Eisenhower to run," he had Godfrey use his influence on his predominantly female viewership for his popular morning show, weekly variety show and his early precursor to "American Idol," namely "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts," to tell women to "get out and vote."

And, since all of Godfrey's hit shows, which dominated airwaves all at the same era, were also all in the Top 10 list for viewership reaching 80 million viewers (hey, remember, there were only three networks back then), women not only voted for the man he recommended, they also came out to the polls in record numbers.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at ppotempa@nwitimes.com or 219.852.4327.

celebBirthdays

Senator Bob Dole is 84. Actor Orson Bean ("Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman") is 79. Fashion designer Oscar de la Renta is 75. Actress Louise Fletcher is 73. Singer Chuck Jackson is 70. Actor Terence Stamp is 68. Game show host Alex Trebek is 67. Singer George Clinton is 66. Singer-actor Bobby Sherman is 64. Singer Estelle Bennett of The Ronettes is 63. Writer-director Paul Schrader is 61. Singer Don Henley and actor Danny Glover and actor-comedian-director Albert Brooks are 60. Composer Alan Menken ("Beauty and the Beast") is 58. Actor Willem Dafoe is 52. Singer Keith Sweat is 46. Actor Rob Estes ("Suddenly Susan" "Melrose Place") and singer Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls are 44. Actor-comedian David Spade and actor John Leguizamo are 43. Actor Rhys Ifans ("Notting Hill") is 40. Musician Daniel Jones (Savage Garden) and singer

Rufus Wainwright are 34. Actress Franka Potente ("The Bourne Identity") is 33.