This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Tuesday, December 11th, 2007.

I'm Caleb Brown.

Oprah Winfrey has entered the political fray not just endorsing but going on the road

for Democrat Barack Obama.

Though her efforts can rightfully be called Volunteer, what implications does that have for campaign finance?

Given the influence that Oprah Wields, is it right to allow her to donate her very valuable

time and at the same time deny others the right to contribute an equivalent number of dollars to

any political campaign.

John Samples, the director of the Cato Institute's Center for Representative Government,

responds. Oprah Winfrey told ABC News,

it says, though Winfrey made a third quarter contribution to Obama's primary bid,

she acknowledged that because of contribution limits, quote,

my money isn't going to make any difference to him.

I think that my value to him, my support of him,

is probably worth more than a check.

Probably is a good word to use.

I mean, I think I would stake my life on it.

We don't know what, in some ways ways this is an unusual circumstance that a celebrity

this important and this big has endorsed and become actively involved in a

presidential primary campaign.

So we don't know what the effects are going to be.

It's never happened before in a way.

...