Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement of Barack Obama directly led to more than 1 million votes for the candidate in the Democratic race for the presidential nomination.
That’s the report from University of Maryland economists Craig Garthwaite and Tim Moore, who claim to have developed a means to measure her impact.
The pair devised complex numerical formulas to gauge Oprah’s star power based on book sales, TV ratings, voter turnout and other factors, the New York Post reports.
Their conclusion: “Our results suggest that Winfrey’s endorsement was responsible for approximately 1,000,000 additional votes for Obama.”
The economists also found links between increased county-by-county sales of Oprah’s magazine, O, and voter turnout, especially in caucus states like Iowa.
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