COLUMBIA, S.C. — The coming Oprah phenomenon on behalf of Senator Barack Obama is already having a ripple effect on rival campaigns.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is sending Bill Clinton here to South Carolina on Saturday, the day before Oprah Winfrey arrives. The former president has spoken here often on behalf of his wife and has proved enormously popular with South Carolina voters.
And on a conference call today, supporters of former Senator John Edwards expressed dissatisfaction with Ms. Winfrey for coming here but not addressing issues like education, health care or poor conditions facing senior citizens.
“If you can build a school in South Africa, build one in South Carolina,” Linda Dogan, a member of the City Council in Spartanburg, said on the conference call, which was organized by the Edwards campaign.
The stated purpose of the call was for several prominent African-Americans who support Mr. Edwards to discuss the candidate’s “plan for opportunity.” They said that Mr. Edwards was emphasizing issues like poverty and education, that he was paying attention to rural areas and to the criminal justice system, that he had a “Southern strategy” and that he could win.
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