When Queen Oprah swept into the Democratic primary race and anointed Obama, I assumed - along with many others - that despite the excitement and the crowds and the pretty pictures her impact on the actual election would be non-existent. According to a new academic paper (found via Tyler Cowen and Comment Central) I was wrong:
In this paper, we use geographic differences in subscriptions to O! – The Oprah Magazine and the sale of books Winfrey recommended as part of Oprah's Book Club to assess whether her endorsement affected the Primary outcomes. We find her endorsement had a positive effect on the votes Obama received, increased the overall voter participation rate, and increased the number of contributions received by Obama.
(Talking of celebrities, it looks like Paris Hilton is totally ready to lead)
UPDATE: the Obama campaign has a released a one-word statement in response to Hilton: "Whatever"...hard to tell if this is an attempt at striking a Hiltonesque tone or just a humourless grunt - hope it's the former.)
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