OPRAH BRINGS STAR POWER TO MOBILIZE SWING-STATE HARRIS VOTERS

(Bloomberg) -- Oprah Winfrey used her influence and popularity for decades to send fans into a frenzy, showering them with surprise gifts and turning them onto favored products and causes.

Now Democrats hope she does the same for Kamala Harris.

The billionaire media icon will join the Democratic presidential candidate in a live-streamed town hall in Michigan on Thursday, an effort to get out the vote as some states begin distributing absentee and early ballots this month and to potentially sway undecided voters with under 50 days until Election Day.

The event teams a trailblazing entrepreneur with a candidate seeking to become the first Black woman US president in what polls show is a tight race against Republican Donald Trump.

The event in Michigan, one of three Blue Wall states critical to a Harris victory, will be in the Detroit metro area, where the campaign aims to maximize turnout to drive up statewide totals and counter Trump’s support in rural areas.

“It’s not preaching to the choir, it’s getting the choir to sing,” said Aimee Allison, founder of She the People, which works to mobilize women of color. “They’re turning up the volume on the urgency of the base to expand and deepen the capacity to win.”

Virtual Rally

On Thursday, roughly 400 Harris supporters are expected to attend the two-hour event in person with thousands more expected to watch on platforms including YouTube, TikTok and Twitch.

The effort is being coordinated by Win With Black Women, which attracted national attention in July for bringing together Harris supporters the night after President Joe Biden exited the race to quickly raise $1.6 million. Jotaka Eaddy, founder of the group, which first worked with Winfrey in 2020, said tens of thousands of people listened to livestreams or calls of that event.

Thursday’s “Unite for America” event aims to appeal to a wide variety of voters — more than 140 pro-Harris groups inspired by the success of the virtual gathering for Black women have been working together and are expected to participate, including Win With Black Men, Republicans for Harris and Cat Ladies for Kamala.

Winfrey will “convey the importance of this election and how it connects to the day-to-day life of the people who are watching,” Eaddy said.

While some members of the participating groups are already highly engaged in the race, others may need “inspiration” from Winfrey, Eaddy said. “It’s about both people who may not have been as motivated to vote and people who are motivated to help mobilize the vote across a wide swath of ethnicities and interests.”

Cultural Force

Winfrey, worth $5.2 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, ended her daily talk show in 2011, but remains an influential cultural force.

Her early support of Barack Obama is credited with helping him win the 2008 Democratic nomination and she has been more engaged with Harris than any other campaign since. She surprised the Democratic National Convention with a primetime speech endorsing Harris, imploring voters to choose “common sense over nonsense.”

“She still has an immense degree of respect and ability to convene people,” said Craig Garthwaite, a professor of strategy at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management who co-authored a study about the impact Winfrey’s endorsement had on Obama’s 2008 campaign.

Garthwaite found that in addition to her appeal to Black women, Winfrey was “disproportionately” effective in reaching middle-aged White women. Winfrey’s willingness to say she trusted Obama helped move some voters, according to Garthwaite.

The study concluded Winfrey helped Obama win one million votes that otherwise would have gone to Clinton in the closely contested primary.

“She’s not on TV every day anymore and the media landscape is a lot more fragmented, so she’s probably less influential than she was then but is still powerful,” he said.

Winfrey made a surprise appearance on late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s show on Tuesday to promote National Voter Registration Day.

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While Harris has many prominent surrogates, including Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, Winfrey has the advantage of being seen as less partisan. In her convention speech, Winfrey said she is a registered independent and emphasized Harris’ character more than her policy positions.

She ultimately endorsed Clinton in 2016 but did not hold any events for her and never formally backed Biden in 2020. Winfrey did host Biden and Harris for town halls run by her Oprah Winfrey Network – but not Trump.

The former president released a book last year that included a private letter Winfrey wrote to him in 2000 in which she says it is “too bad we’re not running for office.” Trump wrote that he still found the former talk show host “amazing” but that “sadly, once I announced for president, she never spoke to me again.”

Engaging Voters

Winfrey’s involvement will be particularly critical to engaging Black women in their 40s and older, whom Allison called “the glue” of the Harris coalition. Polls show Black women largely back Harris but they can also be influential in encouraging other members of their families and people in their communities to vote, Allison said.

Harris led Trump 76% to 12% with Black likely voters in a Suffolk University/USA Today poll conducted in late August. Democrats have expressed worries that more outreach must be done for Black men, a group where Trump has seized on economic anxiety to make inroads.

The town hall with Winfrey comes as Harris steps up her media engagements to reach undecided or disengaged voters, an effort where celebrities can help her breakthrough. As part of the new media blitz, Harris taped an interview with Wired on Wednesday.

The vice president picked up the support of Taylor Swift after last week’s debate and earlier this week pop star Billie Eilish. The cast of Scandal are reuniting to help launch a bus tour in Michigan focused on protecting abortion rights, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Harris on Wednesday was also joined by actress Chloe Grace Moretz on a call to organize young voters.

“There is this belief, historically, that people won’t actually listen to celebrities when it comes to endorsements. I think that’s definitely not true,” Garthwaite said. “They definitely do influence peoples’ voting behavior.”

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