Oprah Events Not Sold Out In Iowa

DES MOINES -- Oprah's celebrity is HUGE in South Carolina and pretty big in New Hampshire, but the enthusiasm is simmered down in Iowa.

Where Barack Obama's campaign had to change venues in South Carolina to accommodate the interest and where they rented the largest stadium in New Hampshire for the joint campaign stop there, the two events scheduled for Iowa tomorrow afternoon haven't sold out.

That's not to say that Oprah doesn't command large audiences in Iowa -- she does.

Maybe it's the winter. Maybe it's the 10,000+ seats the campaign has to fill at each venue.

Or maybe it's the skepticism that Iowa Democrats have for celebrity endorsers.

Comments

Again, you shill relentlessly; but since you're only what.. 26 years old, I guess we can't expect actual thought until you're older.

I think one commenter has said already that the Cedar Rapids venue IS SOLD OUT; and the Des Moines venue is near SOLD OUT. (See I can shill too.) The same commenter said that the weather is expected to be bad in Des Moines this weekend which could explain somewhat the abatement in attendance figures. But why let facts cloud your blogging-we all know the facts have a well-known Obama bias (as does the weather in SC, the trends in NH, college students and young people).

Posted by Michael's Mom | December 7, 2007 10:30 AM

I'm having trouble understanding why this is newsworthy...

Obama's early (and continuing) successes may have raised expectations for crowd size, but c'mon let's be real...

If you could report after the events that they weren't sold out, then maybe it'd have some news value. But, before the event?

Seems like a stretch, and hard not to assume that this is being pushed by the Clinton campaign's press team...

Posted by Vermonter | December 7, 2007 10:46 AM

Hi Marc, write a report AFTER the Iowa events. I'm not looking for media expectations and the semantics of the events. What is Oprah going to say about Barack? Her case for Barack and what she says about him this weekend is far more important that 10,000 people filling an auditorium.

Posted by CJ | December 7, 2007 11:18 AM

I think that you are wrong. At least one of the Iowas venues is sold out.

Posted by heather | December 7, 2007 11:29 AM

They event may also not have "sold out" because the venue type really can't be sold out absent a giant crowd of 30,000+. The campaign is having the event in Hy-Vee Hall -- a 100,000 square foot convention center: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa_Events_Center#Hy-Vee_Hall.

In a venue like this the campaign can keep selling tickets and increasing the portion of the convention center that they use. I can't imagine the venue being anything but full.

Posted by Anon | December 7, 2007 12:04 PM

I suspect voters realize they are electing a President and not a Rock Star.

Obama doesn't need to sell out stadiums, he needs to get votes.

Time will tell, but to be fair, his crowds have always been huge.

Posted by Betty in Baltimore | December 7, 2007 12:14 PM

This sounds like conventional news media (and Hillary Clinton campaign) sour grapes. Of course it was a brilliant stroke to involve Oprah Winfrey in the Obama campaign. You're writing about it, aren't you?

Posted by David Mirsky | December 7, 2007 3:32 PM

Media is a puppet-no longer a profession. One of the ugliest countries in the Middle-east has chosen our president already--Clinton.

Posted by Tariq Ahmed | December 7, 2007 4:39 PM

Thanks for the update Marc. Very interesting!

Hey I'm a big fan of your reporting - keep up the great work!

Posted by Alegre | December 8, 2007 12:21 AM

Sorry Tariq but that's just about the ugliest comment I've ever seen on the blogs.

Get a grip.

Posted by Alegre | December 8, 2007 12:23 AM

I thought the Obama campaign was mostly giving tickets to people who are already volunteers or those who agree to volunteer or attend caucus training sessions?

Posted by Rachel | December 8, 2007 2:39 AM

Clinton will be a great President and knows what this country needs, unlike obama and his boss a TV talk show host. Notice once again how obama is keeping attention on oprah and not his record or the fact that he’s missing very important senate votes one after another!, like the Energy vote for Iowa, he will be playing with Oprah that day too! So Iowans don’t expect him to vote for you! Why would you vote for him??? Obama is sleazy and dishonest, he's banking that TV viewers can be fooled into the perception that a vote for him is a vote for Oprah! It’s DISGUSTING!! I hope he loses big in IOWA!
obama supporter’s talk about desperation, the desperation is clearly obama winphrey, like others have noticed recently, obama had no substance, just a daytime talk show dog and pony show! The only who is worried about oprah is Michelle obama! This guy is a joke and would be foolish for anyone to consider him realistically...He cant show up for the senate job he was elected, why would anyone thin he can be president?

Iowa will make the smart choice and choose anyone other than Oprah's boy!

Posted by Jonnie | December 8, 2007 9:22 AM

Ladies are goingto see Oprah hopingto get FREE STUFF,not to support obama, remember the tickets are FREE!
what a shameful mess of a Oprah dog & pony show!!
Hey Oprah & Obama!
AMERICANS, DEF IOWANS ARE SMARTER THAN YOU IMAGINE!

Posted by MaryAnn | December 8, 2007 9:24 AM

i can not stand OBAMA...have you seen "the baby alive bill" obama is for murdering babies that still come out alive after the abortion process

Posted by rene | January 22, 2008 9:45 PM

I think some of the posts here grossly underestimate Iowans, we are not fooled by celebrity indorsers and we take our politics very seriously, people may show up to see one of their favorite stars, every state has those, but people in Iowa tend to believe as they wish and especially the young tend to be liberal, and may support Obama. Oprah may help Obama sway some of the mindless that follow her every whim, but most are there to show support for the one they will vote for. Many more may goto the event to learn more about Obama to decide if they want to vote his way or not. Oprah may get a few votes, but I wouldn't expect her to change his campaign especially in Iowa.

And an extra comment for Leno, the Iowan shown there on the Jay Walk all-stars is pathetic, I don't know if someone way feeding her lines, but most Iowans would never see a face of politics and not recognize them, I knew every one of them. Sorry for the extra rant, but the show she put on last night was ridiculous.

Posted by Tony | February 21, 2008 2:07 PM