Barack Obama is campaigning hard in Iowa, home of one of the first caucuses of the presidential primary season and is getting support from talk show host Oprah Winfrey. On December 8, she joined him in Des Moines where the largest audience of the year gathered to hear her message of support, but it remains unclear whether having her name as a speaker will help push Obama ahead of Hillary Clinton in the presidential race.
Recent poll numbers posted at http://www.usaelectionpolls.com/ shows Obama gaining on front runner Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination in Iowa, and in some polls leading the party's ticket. A poll conducted December 5 by MSNBC showed Clinton with a wafer-thin margin of 27 to 25 percent, with John Edwards running third at 21 percent. A poll conducted by Newsweek the following day saw Clinton's lead falter to 29 percent, with Obama increasing to a six-point lead at 35 percent and Edwards dropping to 18 percent.
Many political experts do not expect Winfrey's involvement in the election process, the first time the talk celebrity has opening backed a single candidate will help Obama's numbers, but his gaining shares prior to her appearance at the rally came after her intentions to support Obama became widely publicized. Bad weather was blamed on a large portion of the crowd leaving the rally early, either before or during Obama's speech, but it should be noted that very few left during Winfrey's speech.
