Nov. 4, 2022: Inside Oprah's big Senate endorsement

The Playbook Podcast

POLITICO

News, Daily News, Politics, Government

3.9 • 699 Ratings

🗓️ 4 November 2022

⏱️ 13 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Oprah Winfrey endorsed Democrat John Fetterman in the ultratight Pennsylvania Senate race during a virtual GOTV event Thursday night. More than just another celebrity endorsement, it’s a pointed snub by Winfrey of Mehmet Oz, the celebrity doctor she single-handedly brought to national prominence. "If I lived in Pennsylvania,” she said, “I would've already cast my vote for John Fetterman, for many reasons.” The endorsement was in the works for months, our Holly Otterbein reported late last night: “Fetterman's orbit knew how powerful a nod from Winfrey would be, and it worked behind the scenes to court her. The Fettterman campaign made a direct appeal to her for a meeting, according to a person familiar with the outreach.” And Steve Shepard shares his penultimate Election Forecast update, with ratings changes in three Senate, 13 House and four governor races. All but one are moving toward Republicans. The Senate … The overall landscape continues to be in “Toss-Up” territory, but Republicans appear to have a growing upside: With six races now coin-flips, an even split of those races would be enough to secure a GOP majority, while a sweep would hand the party 54 seats. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Transcript

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0:00.0	presented by Amazon.
0:03.0	Good morning, Playbookers. I'm Raguam Winnevalon. It's Friday. Politico Steve Shepard
0:07.3	stops by for his latest ratings update. It's your Politico Playbook Daily Briefing.
0:16.2	During a virtual get-out-the-vote event on Thursday night, Oprah Winfrey endorsed Democrat
0:20.7	John Federman in the ultra-tight Pennsylvania Senate race. More than just another celebrity endorsement, it's appointed snub by Winfrey of Mehmed Oz, the celebrity doctor she single-handedly brought to national prominence. This is what she said, if I lived in Pennsylvania, I would have already cast my vote for John Federman, for many
0:38.0	reasons. The endorsement was in the works for months, Politico's Holly Otterbean reported late
0:43.0	last night. She writes, Federman's orbit knew how powerful a nod from Winfrey would be, and it
0:47.6	worked behind the scenes to court her. The Federman campaign made a direct appeal to her for a meeting
0:51.9	according to a person familiar with the outreach.
0:54.9	Federman embraced the Oprah seal of approval in a statement. She's a leader on so many issues,
0:59.6	fighting for our democracy, passing common sense gun reform, and ensuring racial justice.
1:04.1	An off spokesperson said the Republican loves Oprah and respects the fact that they have different
1:09.0	politics.
1:13.4	Politico's senior campaigns and elections editor, Steve Shepard, is out with his latest rating forecast.
1:18.5	In it, their rating changes in three Senate, 13 House, and four governor races.
1:22.8	All but one are moving toward Republicans, and he's here to talk about it.
1:26.3	Steve, how's it going nearing the finish line?
1:27.6	How are you holding up?
1:29.3	I am feeling like the finish line can't come soon enough,
1:32.7	but we have one more weekend to go,
1:35.6	and then we're going to get answers to a lot of our questions.
1:39.1	Maybe not on next Tuesday night, but soon after.
	...

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