Oprah's Obama endorsement has hurt her

Celebrities may want to ask themselves, "Is it worth it to endorse political candidates?" There was a time no one challenged Oprah Winfrey but since her enthusiastic endorsement of Barack Obama those days seem gone.

Endorsing Obama may have alienated Oprah with Hillary supporters ... and the divide between the two camps has been ugly at times over the past months.

How has it affected Oprah? According to NewsMax:

Oprah’s endorsement of Barack Obama for president raised her “unfavorable” ratings, allowing her to be overtaken by daytime talk show rival Ellen DeGeneres as the most popular celebrity in the U.S. in a Harris Interactive poll, Ad Age reports.
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And ratings for “The Oprah Winfrey Show” have dropped nearly 7 percent this year, Newsmax’s Insider Report recently noted.

According to the New York Times, the Obama endorsement alienated some of the middle-aged white women who make up the bulk of Oprah’s TV audience, many of whom supported Obama’s rival Hillary Clinton.

Ellen DeGeneres has remained neutral in the political battles swirling around the country. As one who enjoys her show, her wit, and her dancing, I'm grateful. When a celebrity begins to talk politics, it is usually opposite of mine and I lose interest. I want to enjoy the celebrity for his/her entertainment quality, not hear their take on politics. That will turn me off to them in a heartbeat.

Is it worth it to celebrities to alienate members of their audience?

Angry backlash from Oprah fans over Obama support

Oprah is experiencing an angry backlash from her fans because of her public support and campaigning for democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama.

According to the LA Times:

Winfrey's website has been buzzing for weeks with angry postings about her involvement in the Illinois senator's campaign, something Hollywood, which always keeps its eye on the public mood, is bound to notice -- this is a town, after all, that measures success by weekly grosses and daily TV ratings.

One posting on her site, Oprah.com, accused the talk diva of being a traitor. (By Thursday, that message string had attracted more than 12,000 views.) Another poster told Winfrey to "stop pushing Obama down our throats." (There were 3,000 hits logged on that one.)

Another said: "Do you really know Barack Hussein Obama? Scary & something we have to take into consideration!" (There were more than 4,000 views for that.)

"First of all I want to say that I am a HUGE Oprah fan," one poster wrote. "I love what she stands for. She is a strong woman changing the world. However, I have been extremely disappointed with her recent touring with Barack Obama. It is a manipulation and an abuse of her power and influence on the American culture.

"Let the American people form their own opinion, Oprah."

Since Winfrey announced over the summer that she was supporting Obama, more than 25,000 views of more than 345 separate discussions -- almost all of them centering on the campaign -- have been roiling along in the local and world news section of her website. By comparison, there were eight discussions going in recent weeks on the issue of global warming, which had generated about 1,100 views.

Oprah is discovering politics is a polarizing activity.