How Oprah Could Help Swing Undecided Women to Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris will be joined by Oprah Winfrey on the campaign trail in Michigan Thursday night, as the pair host a livestream with grassroots groups that could hold the key to reaching undecided women.

The event, coordinated by the group Win With Black Women, is designed to ride the wave of support Harris has enjoyed from over 140 groups since her nomination and translate that into voter registration and participation.

Oprah, who revealed last month that she is a registered independent, endorsed former President Barack Obama in 2008 and has thrown her support behind Harris as potentially the first woman, and woman of color, to win the presidency.

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“Celebrities are not going to determine who wins, we’ve seen that in past elections,” Angelo Greco, a Democratic strategist and member of the Italian-American affinity group Paisans for Kamala, told Newsweek.

“Celebrities have always been a tactic, part of a strategy and a messaging tool, but it’s first point of entry to then go back to the policies… to make it real to people.”

A gender gap among Black voters

While Harris has enjoyed widespread and unyielding support among Black women, segments of the Black male population have drifted from the Democratic column and toward Donald Trump.

Harris appeared to acknowledge that Black men were not firmly in her camp, saying she knew their vote would not come easy.

“I’m working to earn [their] vote, not assuming that I would have it because I’m Black, but because the policies and the perspectives that I have understands what we must do to recognize the needs for all communities,” she told a National Association of Black Journalists event this week.

Oprah’s endorsement, publicized in her speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last month, could help in that mission, and not just with Black voters.

After the 2008 election, a Northwestern University study found that Winfrey’s endorsement of Obama was “disproportionately” effective in moving middle-aged white women into his column.

Winfrey was on television every day back then, and is perhaps less influential now. But she’s still Oprah.

“She still has an immense degree of respect and ability to convene people,” Craig Garthwaite, a professor of strategy at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management who co-authored the study, told Bloomberg News this week.

Several grassroots groups, including White Dudes for Harris, Win With Black Men, South Asians for Harris, and Republicans for Harris will be involved in Thursday’s virtual rally at 8 p.m. ET, which will be streamed across YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Twitch.

Speakers will discuss why they are supporting the Vice President, as well as why voting matters.

“What is essential to me is getting people motivated to vote – and that’s my intention in hosting this event,” Oprah Winfrey said in a press release. “My goal is to get people excited about the privilege and power of the vote.”

Oprah call can reach undecided voters

Greco, from the Italian-American group, told Newsweek that Oprah’s event with Harris on Thursday needs to “extend” a sense of enthusiasm to those undecided voters around them — and Harris needed to help with that by being clear on policy.

“In several of the swing states, but also for most voters, it’s going to be the economy, the kitchen table issues, what the candidates can do for their bottom line and will their lives be better as a result,” Greco said.

He referred to his culture as an example, saying that the core family values Italian Americans hold dear could be tapped by Harris by touting her economic policies focused on childcare and taxes. In doing that, he believes this could win over undecided voters, male and female alike.

“In those swing states like Pennsylvania, I think Italian Americans, it’s 15% of the population,” Greco said. “If you can even just capture 5% of that, in an election where 10,000 or so can be can flip a county or a whole state, I think it’s worthwhile to make the effort.”