On December 7, Internet gossip Matt Drudge linked to a December 7 post on The New York Times' political blog, The Caucus, with the headline: “Edwards Slams Oprah.” Later, Drudge changed the headline to, “Edwards Slams Talk Queen,” with a link to the same post at the Caucus. The Caucus post to which Drudge linked was headlined “Not Feeling the Oprah Love” and discussed “the ripple effect on rival campaigns” of talk show host Oprah Winfrey's three-state tour through Iowa, South Carolina, and New Hampshire on behalf of Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) presidential campaign. However, while the post quoted a supporter of former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) “express[ing] dissatisfaction” with Winfrey, it also reported that a spokeswoman for the Edwards campaign said that the supporter was “speaking only for herself.” Further, the post did not include a single quote from Edwards discussing Winfrey or her tour on behalf of the Obama campaign.

The Caucus post reported that “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.” The post added: " '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 post also reported that “Ms. Dogan said that as a black woman, Ms. Winfrey's visit 'doesn't mean anything to me' if she is not going to deal with local issues. 'It makes me a little ill,' she said, noting that Ms. Winfrey is extremely wealthy. 'Oprah coming here means absolutely nothing to me unless she's going to do something for South Carolina,' she said.”

But the post added that shortly after the conference call, “Teresa Wells, a spokeswoman in South Carolina for the Edwards campaign, called The Caucus to say that Ms. Dogan was speaking only for herself. 'We welcome Oprah to South Carolina, but people in South Carolina are dealing with real issues, like poverty, lack of health care, mill closings, a 50-percent high school dropout rate, and we think people will vote for John Edwards's policies over Barack Obama's friends,' Ms. Wells said.”

The headlines appearing on Drudge's website, the Drudge Report:

Friday, December 7:

Saturday, December 8 :

Sunday, December 9:

The December 7 post on The Caucus in full:

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.

One reporter questioned whether the call was timed because of Ms. Winfrey's campaigning for Mr. Obama. She is to appear in Iowa Saturday, comes to South Carolina Sunday and ends in Manchester, N.H., that night.

Ms. Dogan said that as a black woman, Ms. Winfrey's visit “doesn't mean anything to me” if she is not going to deal with local issues. “It makes me a little ill,” she said, noting that Ms. Winfrey is extremely wealthy. “Oprah coming here means absolutely nothing to me unless she's going to do something for South Carolina,” she said.

John Moylan, Mr. Edwards's South Carolina director, said that the call was not about Ms. Winfrey but about opportunity.

Tyrone Freeman, president of the United Long Term Care Workers West, of the Service Employees International Union, suggested that Ms. Winfrey was the only way to get the attention of the news media, which, he said, had been “unjust” by not covering the important issues that Mr. Edwards is raising. “All of us would do this call every week,” he said. “It's only now because of Oprah we can get your attention.”

The campaign officials on the call were asked whether they agreed with Ms. Dogan's views. Ms. Dogan said she was speaking for herself. No one from the campaign responded and the conference call was ended.

Shortly thereafter, Teresa Wells, a spokeswoman in South Carolina for the Edwards campaign, called The Caucus to say that Ms. Dogan was speaking only for herself.

“We welcome Oprah to South Carolina, but people in South Carolina are dealing with real issues, like poverty, lack of health care, mill closings, a 50-percent high school dropout rate, and we think people will vote for John Edwards's policies over Barack Obama's friends,” Ms. Wells said.

She added that the conference call was held in part because some of Mr. Edwards's top African-American endorsers are frustrated when they see the news media portray the campaign as “a two-person race for the African-American vote and we're not in it.” She said that on the ground they see blacks supporting Mr. Edwards, but that is not conveyed by the media.