The U.S. will select a new president next year, and the candidates (people trying to win the position) have been campaigning (asking people for their votes) for almost a year now. The first election to select the candidates is in a few weeks.
One recent tradition in U.S. politics is celebrity endorsements, when famous people (actors, comedians, singers) show their support for a candidate by saying, “I’m going to vote for this person.” All politicians have celebrities who support them, some more than others. Barak Obama, a senator from Illinois and a candidate for the Democratic party’s nomination (selection) to run for president, has recently received the endorsement of one of America’s most well-known talk-show hosts, Oprah Winfrey. I talked about Oprah almost two years ago on one of our first English Cafes, English Cafe #5. Oprah (as she is popularly known) has one of American’s most successful television shows (named – are you ready? – “Oprah”!), and is one of the richest and most successful celebrities in the U.S., popular especially among women.
Will her endorsement help Obama’s candidacy? No one knows for sure. Some people will probably be influenced by her endorsement. The other candidates will have their celebrities, too. In U.S. politics, Hollywood and Washington, D.C., have been moving closer and closer together for many years.
The Voice of America has a recent article about these celebrity endorsements, entitled “U.S. Presidential Contenders Enlist Celebrity Support to Push Ahead.” A contender is someone who may win a race or contest, in this case the same as a candidate. To enlist means to ask for support, usually when you have a difficult task or conflict. To push ahead means to continue forward, to become the leader in a competition. So presidential candidates are asking celebrities for their help so that they can win the nomination.
ESL Podcast will not be endorsing anyone for president. (Of course, no one asked us to, either!)
~Jeff
I just hope no more superheroes “superannuate” or became a politic.
because with the terminator governing California and Superman died..
Who will save our planet ? LOL
Take Care
Eduardo.
Who will be nominated? Obama or Hillary? That is the question everybody even in Spain are people asking about?
Because all people over the world affects the persons that should be elected as president in US., and that is the
reality of life, what happens in the new Imperium affects us.
We may like it or dislike, but in my opinion it is a very important thing who should be nominated for the democrats or
republicans parties.
I don’t know anything about Obama, but I like Hillary and I would like her as a new president for US.
I liked also her husband Clinton when he was president, and I think that with him as president it should be
posible don’t to have any Irak war like there is now. Some times persons do history, and his acts affect millions of
people.
That is my very personal opinion.
Emiliano,I agree with you for what you say but I would like to see more change in the person of Obama
I think he could be a very new man for the United States and of course a democrat for the benefit of all the world
Yes, of course, both persons as future presidents should be a great change in history of the U.S., as Hillary should be the first woman being president and Obama the first afro-american person doing that great responsability.
In fact I don’t know anything about Obama, and he may be an excelent politician and sure he is when Oprah support him. But it is also important that a woman with the experience of Hillary may take the big control. Women are quite different that men, and they see the world in many ways better than we the men.
Women have their feet on the floor always, not like us.
Thank you Jacky
unfortunatetly a lot of pression will be put by many lobbies to avoid to have a woman or an african american for president;maybe you are aware of what happened here this year in france with Ségolène Royal;i would be false but it’s very,very difficult:)