OUCH

Oprah Won’t Endorse Obama in ’12: Report

Can’t afford to lose popularity with new network.

Just saying it’s business, not personal doesn’t make this any less painful for President Obama: Sources say Oprah Winfrey will not be endorsing him in 2012 because she doesn’t want ratings to fall at her fledgling network. “Unlike in 2008, when a drop in ratings didn’t matter as much for the queen of TV, Oprah is now fighting every day to get people to tune into OWN,” a source said. Oprah's ratings dropped in 2008 after her much-publicized endorsement of Obama, and her favorable ratings fell to 66 percent from 74 percent—and her unfavorable ratings jumped to 26 percent from 17 percent. As one source said, “Helping a friend keep the most important job in the world is great, but making sure her OWN network thrives is now her priority.”