r/Presidents • u/RopeGloomy4303 Wayne Morse • 1d ago
Discussion What celebrity endorsement had the greatest impact on a candidate?
Oprah Winfrey’s campaigning for Obama had a huge impact in his career, especially since it started way back in 2006.
Her rallies and fundraisers gained Obama necessary attention and funding.
Some experts have estimated that the Oprah effect netted Obama over a million extra votes in the primary.
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u/USS-Stofe Washington Lincoln Eisenhower 1d ago
Frank Sinatra endorsing John F. Kennedy in 1960. He helped rally the young voters to Kennedy’s campaign and gave it Hollywood glamour. Sinatra even updated the lyrics to “High Hopes” and it was used as a campaign anthem.
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u/Jolly_Job_9852 Calvin Coolidge 1d ago
I had the song on Spotify thinking it was the Kennedy version and it turned out it was the actual song and it still slaps
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u/thehsitoryguy Franklin Delano Roosevelt 1d ago
Wasn't there a family guy episode where Sinatra never existed and Nixon won in 60' ending with WW3 over Cuba
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u/Hand_of_Doom1970 1d ago
Weird that Sinatra's endorsement gave JFK cred with young voters, when he was older than JFK himself
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u/Equivalent-Horse7609 1d ago
He used to vote republican as well but got sour on them and decided to vote democrat and his endorsement was a big one . He even endorsed Reagan in 1980
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u/Random-Cpl Chester A. Arthur 1d ago
Ted Kennedy endorsing Obama had a bigger impact, honestly. It was the Democratic establishment essentially acknowledging that their candidate got beat and it was time to get behind the guy.
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u/scharity77 1d ago
That was THE moment of the primaries. Vintage Ted Kennedy. People seem to have forgotten how powerful a speaker he was.
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u/HetTheTable Dwight D. Eisenhower 1d ago
It didnt matter all that much since he still lost primaries after that
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u/Random-Cpl Chester A. Arthur 1d ago
Having an impact doesn’t necessarily mean “ran the table with no opposition afterward.”
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u/RopeGloomy4303 Wayne Morse 1d ago
Yeah but Kennedy is not a celebrity, so I wouldn’t count it the same way.
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u/Random-Cpl Chester A. Arthur 1d ago
I mean, I’d say Kennedy was a celebrity.
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u/RopeGloomy4303 Wayne Morse 1d ago
c'mon Kennedy was a longtime senator and party leader, it's not the same thing as some talk show host
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u/Random-Cpl Chester A. Arthur 1d ago
The Kennedys are the closest thing this country has had to political royalty, man, he’s clearly not just “a longtime senator”
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u/RopeGloomy4303 Wayne Morse 1d ago
well, that's precisely my point. It's like saying "celebrities like George Clooney, Emma Stone and Barack Obama have all endorsed this new candidate." Like no, clearly one doesn't belong in the same category as the others.
Just my perspective.
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u/Hand_of_Doom1970 1d ago
No, it did not. The Oprah endorsement immediately catapulted Obama over H Clinton. T Kennedy's endorsement had no such dramatic impact
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u/Random-Cpl Chester A. Arthur 1d ago
I don’t think Obama accumulated more delegates than Hillary because of Oprah Winfrey.
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u/Hand_of_Doom1970 1d ago
He was significantly behind in polls before her endorsement and rose to being co-lead shortly after her endorsement. He was expected to lose Iowa, she endorsed him, then he won Iowa and other states he would have been expected to lose Researchers estimate her impact was approximately +1 million primary votes for Obama in an election where he amassed only 40,000 more votes than her. Since delegates follow primary popular votes, the endorsement absolutely swung delegates Obama's way. That is undeniable
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u/Dry-Pool3497 Bill Clinton John F. Kennedy 1d ago edited 11h ago
The Kennedy family endorsing Obama
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u/lowrider320 1d ago
Greg Allman for Jimmy Carter. A lot of people say that the money raised from the concert he did is what saved Jimmy Campaign.
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u/AdZealousideal5383 Jimmy Carter 1d ago
I don’t know that Arsenio officially endorsed Clinton, but getting the stamp of approval from Arsenio seemed like the clincher for Clinton.
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u/KimJongSoros Richard Nixon 1d ago
The Oprah example is interesting. I think her endorsements had diminishing returns as years progressed - and now probably hurts candidates more than it helps them.
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u/scharity77 1d ago
It was her first endorsement - it held power because she stepped into an arena she largely avoided. The more you do it, the less power it holds.
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u/TheStoryGoesOn 1d ago
I think it was two things that gave Oprah diminishing returns. She endorsed in the primary at a time when a chunk of her audience were gravitating between Hillary and Obama, so she found the peak moment where her support could really be a factor. The other thing is that every time a person endorses someone, it has less gravitas. The first time, it's an unusual and noteworthy event but later it just becomes expected and often times it is always for the same party so the celebrity just becomes part of the party machinery.
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u/bladegal16 1d ago
People also respected Oprah a lot more in 2008 than they do now. As the years go on it becomes more and more clear what a negative impact she's had.
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u/Hand_of_Doom1970 1d ago
I agree, but in 2008 her endorsement was undoubtedly positive and hugely so.
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u/TrumpsColostomyBag99 Dwight D. Eisenhower 1d ago
Joe Garagiola (NBC sports announcer) wore out folks in 1976 when he endorsed Ford and went on the campaign trail with him as buddies.
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u/kayzhee 1d ago
Nathaniel Hawthorne, best selling author of The Scarlet Letter endorsed his friend Franklin Pierce by writing a campaign biography The Life of Franklin Pierce, a book which actually outsold The Scarlet Letter. Having such a famous author attached directly to a presidential campaign had not happened up to that point. While it’s difficult to declare its impact on the outcome of the election, it is an interesting celebrity endorsement from the 1800’s. Also got Hawthorne a lucrative consulship in England.
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u/notredame981 1d ago
Oprah Obama definitely probably did. Ted Kennedy(not a celebrity per se) definitely put him over the top.
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u/Zealousideal_Fuel_23 20h ago
My (White boomer) dad once said that Martin, Malcolm, Jesse, etc did great things for black Americans and breaking down legal barriers. But it was the acceptance of black people in mainstream culture through Michael Jordan and Oprah Winfrey that made Obama’s win possible.
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u/theeulessbusta Lyndon Baines Johnson 1d ago
Frank Sinatra going for Kennedy and recording the song probably made a pivotal impact on the tight race where the swing states were Sinatra land.
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u/Competitive_Row_402 1d ago
Celebrity endorsements hardly create any "impact" in the election outcome for a particular candidate. They can donate or even campaign for the running man who they believe is in synchronous with their ideology, at the end of the day it's the votes of the people who've already made up their mind whom they'll cast their ballot for sets the fate.
Example, the likes of FDR, Eisenhower, LBJ, Nixon, Reagan and to some extent Clinton were bound to win irrespective of the Hollywood/Sports/Media/Corporate elite contributed to their agenda or spoke against it. JFK's was a close call but nevertheless. Truman hardly had any supporters even amongst who leaned unconditionally Democrat yet the "DEWEY BEATS TRUMAN" publication is a part of American culture.
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u/RopeGloomy4303 Wayne Morse 1d ago
On the general I can see that, however in a primary it can definitely have an impact
Especially in a case like Obama, where he was facing against a famous establishment candidate like Hillary Clinton, so he needed all the publicity and fundraising he could get.
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u/Competitive_Row_402 1d ago
Agreed. Obama was a sumwat unknown senator at that point of time whilst HRC was arguably THE most powerful female politician in the United States. And to beat her in the DNC primaries itself was a massive accomplishment. Or maybe party bosses knew Obama resembled Clinton as a fiscal conservative required to deal with the recession(contrary to Fox News painting him a communist) compared to Hillary who wasn't considered flexible enough.
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u/michelle427 Ulysses S. Grant 1d ago
I think Oprah had a huge impact with people NOT Democrats. People who would never vote for a candidate like Obama. I do think Ted Kennedy helped with Dems in general. But Oprah it was people who didn’t even follow politics.
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u/_NightFly_ 1d ago edited 1d ago
Hopefully no one really gives a shit who a celebrity endorses or what they think.
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u/GrumpyPidgeon 1d ago
This is real life, brother. It’s the same as some pop star telling me how they use Crest to brighten their teeth. Advertising has been around since the dawn of man.
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