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Title: Can Celebrity Endorsements Affect Political Outcomes? Evidence from the 2008 U.S. Democratic Presidential Primary

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2009

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Abstract: Identifying the effects of political endorsements has historically been difficult. Before the2008 Democratic Presidential Primary, Barack Obama was endorsed by Oprah Winfrey. Wedevelop a model of celebrity endorsements and assess this endorsement's impact using, as measuresof Winfreys influence, subscriptions to her magazine and sales of books she recommends. We findher endorsement increased Obamas votes and financial contributions, and also increased overallvoter turnout. No connection is found between the measures of Oprah's influence and previouselections, nor with underlying political preferences. Our results suggest Winfrey's endorsement wasresponsible for approximately one million additional votes for Obama.

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Authors: Garthwaite, Craig; Moore, Timothy J.

Publisher: Northwestern University

Data Collections: IPUMS NHGIS

Topics: Other

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