Oprah Winfrey has always been an avid supporter of Barack Obama.  For the first time, she exerted political influence and publicly endorsed him in the 2008 presidential election.  She even held a fundraiser for him at her Santa Barbara, California, estate last September and in December that same year, joined Obama in a series of rallies in the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

During Obama's moving acceptance speech at Denver's 2008 Democratic National Convention, Winfrey, host of the multiple award-wining program The Oprah Winfrey Show, told The Associated Press that she cried her eyelashes off as she watched the first African-American to be elected by a major American political party for President.

"I think it's the most powerful thing I have ever experienced," the daytime queen said at the time, comparing Obama's words to Martin Luther King Jr.'s iconic "I Have a Dream Speech."

It's no surprise that Oprah was thrilled when Obama officially became the new President-Elect and the first African-American to be elected President of the United States of America.

“It's one of the greatest moments I could ever imagine.  That's how great it is,” Oprah told The Insider  yesterday from Chicago's Grant Park.

Of her reason for supporting Obama, Oprah quoted the Bible, saying, "'What does it do to gain the world but lose your soul? 'I would have lost a piece of my soul if I had not stood up for him."

"I had this moment where I wanted to start singing 'America the Beautiful' … it was emotional for a lot of people all day today," Oprah said of her voting experience.

Aside from Oprah Winfrey, Spike Lee and Star Jones were among the famous personalities waiting for the new President to speak for his election night speech in Grant Park in his home city. It has been reported that between 500,000 and a million people were expected to attend the event.


-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: The Insider, ET
(Image courtesy of Getty)