West Central Florida Republican Assembly

Thanks Sandy for bringing this up.

By: Jim Meyers Article Font Size

Oprah Winfrey’s “brand” is still strong enough to give a huge boost to any book or other product she endorses, but Oprah “has taken some notable dings lately, largely of her own making,” Ad Age magazine observes.

Oprah’s endorsement of Barack Obama for president raised her “unfavorable” ratings, allowing her to be overtaken by daytime talk show rival Ellen DeGeneres as the most popular celebrity in the U.S. in a Harris Interactive poll, Ad Age reports.

A Gallup poll conducted shortly after Oprah announced her backing of Obama found that her “favorable” rating fell by 8 percentage points, to 66 percent from 74 percent in January of last year, while her “unfavorable” rating surged by more than half, from 17 percent to 26 percent.

And ratings for “The Oprah Winfrey Show” have dropped nearly 7 percent this year, Newsmax’s Insider Report recently noted.

According to the New York Times, the Obama endorsement alienated some of the middle-aged white women who make up the bulk of Oprah’s TV audience, many of whom supported Obama’s rival Hillary Clinton.

And revelations about Obama’s longtime relationship with controversial pastor the Rev. Jeremiah Wright no doubt called some attention to the fact that Oprah at one time belonged to Wright’s congregation.

Oprah also sparked criticism when she selected new-age religion guru Eckart Tolle’s book “A New Earth” for her book club earlier this year.

One of Tolle’s assertions is that the New Testament contains distortions of Jesus’ teachings.

Since Oprah’s endorsement, the club has reportedly gained more than 1 million members, and Oprah’s Web site has logged over 30 million streams and downloads of an online seminar related to the book.

“But it also angered some conservative Christians and inspired the American Family Association to attack the once-unassailable Ms. Winfrey,” according to Ad Age.

“All of this seems to lead to one question for marketers: Is it worth the trouble?”

© 2008 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

[From Newsmax.com - Oprah’s Brand Under Attack]

There’s been no panic buying run yet, but Tampa Bay food sellers are rationing bulk buys of Asian basmati and jasmine long-grain white rice in hopes of avoiding one.

“We’ve got plenty of supply,” said Trevor Knowles, front-end manager at Costco Wholesale Club in Clearwater, which is limiting rice purchases to seven 25- to 50-pound bags per trip. “We just want to be sure people don’t create a shortage by hoarding.”

It’s another facet of the global food shortage showing up in the Tampa Bay area. Drought in Australia, bad weather in Vietnam and Thailand, rising customer demand, soaring prices and food shortages that unleashed riots in some Third World countries have combined to help trigger a form of food rationing locally at places where many restaurants get their rice. Some rice-producing countries have restricted exports so they can feed their own people.

Full Story: Stores start rationing rice

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News Release
Saturday, April 12, 2008, Nature Coast Republican Club hosted a debate between incumbent County Commissioner Vicki Phillips and Challenger Tom Franklin, running for District #3.
Each had 10 minutes to address the members of the club and guests. This was followed by questions from the audience. The majority of the questions dealt with the county administrator and the budget, with the sheriff’s budget causing the most concern.
It was announced that TOO FAR had endorsed the following candidates: Ron Schultz, Joyce Valentino, Vicki Phillips, Hank Hemrick, Charlie Dean and Bernie Leven.

Submitted by
Al Cislo, President
628-5004