New York Times
DES MOINES – "Oh my goodness," Oprah Winfrey said. "At last, I'm here." With those seven words here today, Ms. Winfrey stepped into American politics as she has never done before, opening a three-state tour in her quest to support the presidential bid of Senator Barack Obama. ..."None of us is God," Ms. Winfrey said. "We don't know what the future holds, so we must respond to the pressures and the forces of history when the moment strikes. And Iowa, I believe that moment is now." With that, Mr. Obama took the stage.
DES MOINES – "Oh my goodness," Oprah Winfrey said. "At last, I'm here." With those seven words here today, Ms. Winfrey stepped into American politics as she has never done before, opening a three-state tour in her quest to support the presidential bid of Senator Barack Obama.
..."None of us is God," Ms. Winfrey said. "We don't know what the future holds, so we must respond to the pressures and the forces of history when the moment strikes. And Iowa, I believe that moment is now." With that, Mr. Obama took the stage.
Associated Press
"Oprah's star power shines for Obama""The amount of time you spend in Washington means nothing unless you are accountable for the judgment you made," Winfrey said. She said from the beginning Obama "stood with clarity and conviction against this war in Iraq.""There are times that I even worry about what happens to our country," Winfrey said, standing on a small stage before a sea of people in the 100,000-square-foot hall. "That is why for the very first time in my life I feel compelled to stand up and speak out for the man who I believe has a new vision for America."
"Oprah's star power shines for Obama"
"The amount of time you spend in Washington means nothing unless you are accountable for the judgment you made," Winfrey said. She said from the beginning Obama "stood with clarity and conviction against this war in Iraq."
"There are times that I even worry about what happens to our country," Winfrey said, standing on a small stage before a sea of people in the 100,000-square-foot hall. "That is why for the very first time in my life I feel compelled to stand up and speak out for the man who I believe has a new vision for America."
Reuters
Thousands of fans of talk show host Oprah Winfrey or Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama...filled an Iowa convention center on Saturday for the most-hyped event so far of the 2008 White House campaign. Volunteers, Obama-backers and undecided voters in a crowd of around 18,500 cheered and craned their necks to see daytime TV star Winfrey take the stage with Illinois Sen. Obama, a man Winfrey said would bring strength, conviction, honor and compassion to the White House."I'm not here to tell you what to think, I am here to ask you to think seriously about the man who knows who we are and knows who we can be," Winfrey said. "We need Barack Obama."
Thousands of fans of talk show host Oprah Winfrey or Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama...filled an Iowa convention center on Saturday for the most-hyped event so far of the 2008 White House campaign.
Volunteers, Obama-backers and undecided voters in a crowd of around 18,500 cheered and craned their necks to see daytime TV star Winfrey take the stage with Illinois Sen. Obama, a man Winfrey said would bring strength, conviction, honor and compassion to the White House.
"I'm not here to tell you what to think, I am here to ask you to think seriously about the man who knows who we are and knows who we can be," Winfrey said. "We need Barack Obama."
CBS News
...The audience stood up and roared when Oprah took the stage. She told the crowd, “So much as been said about what my jumping into this arena does or does not bring to the table of politics and I really don’t know.” “Despite the speculation and the hype, I understand the difference between a book club and free refrigerators,” Oprah said, “I understand the difference between that and this critical moment in our nation’s history.”
Des Moines Register
Lavonne Short, a 50-year-old Urbandale woman, claimed uncontested first in line honors at the Sen. Barack Obama rally on Saturday, one of two major events in the state featuring Oprah Winfrey. Short arrived at 11:30 a.m. for the 3:30 event....By the time doors opened, just prior to 2 p.m., a line of hundreds stretched through Hy-Vee Hall, dozens of staff directed ticketgoers to the correct entrances and cheers of "Fire it up" echoed through the building.
Lavonne Short, a 50-year-old Urbandale woman, claimed uncontested first in line honors at the Sen. Barack Obama rally on Saturday, one of two major events in the state featuring Oprah Winfrey. Short arrived at 11:30 a.m. for the 3:30 event.
...By the time doors opened, just prior to 2 p.m., a line of hundreds stretched through Hy-Vee Hall, dozens of staff directed ticketgoers to the correct entrances and cheers of "Fire it up" echoed through the building.
Politico
One of the questions about Oprah's set of rallies for Obama is how the campaign would use them -- whether they'd just be opportunities for Oprah fans to see the celebrity, or whether they'd advance Obama in the game of inches that is the Iowa caucus.It's of course impossible to say for sure, but the organization is certainly geared for the latter. The room at the Hy-Vee Hall is packed -- there must be at least 10,000 people her...The half dozen people I spoke to here were all Iowan, and all said they were likely to caucus, and had come at least as much for Obama as for Oprah. It's a diverse crowd in terms of race and age, with more women than men..."He has shown a lot of strength," said Leaf Seckington, 29, a special-ed teacher in Des Moines.
One of the questions about Oprah's set of rallies for Obama is how the campaign would use them -- whether they'd just be opportunities for Oprah fans to see the celebrity, or whether they'd advance Obama in the game of inches that is the Iowa caucus.It's of course impossible to say for sure, but the organization is certainly geared for the latter. The room at the Hy-Vee Hall is packed -- there must be at least 10,000 people her...
The half dozen people I spoke to here were all Iowan, and all said they were likely to caucus, and had come at least as much for Obama as for Oprah. It's a diverse crowd in terms of race and age, with more women than men...
"He has shown a lot of strength," said Leaf Seckington, 29, a special-ed teacher in Des Moines.
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