Susan Davis reports on the presidential race. The impact of celebrity endorsements in political races is hard to nail down, but economists at the University of Maryland think they have it figured out. Barack Obama appears with Oprah Winfrey at a Dec. 9, 2007 rally in Manchester, N.H. (AP) When media mogul Oprah Winfrey broke from her past tradition of staying out of politics and endorsed Barack Obama last year, there was much debate over how much Winfrey’s nod would benefit the Illinois senator in his race against former rival Sen. Hillary Clinton. According to a study by university economists Craig Garthwaite and Tim Moore, it added about 1,000,000 votes to Obama’s column in the contested primary battle. “We find her endorsement had a positive effect on the votes Obama received, increased the overall voter participation...
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