Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign of the U.S. Congress, chaired by Vice President Cheney as President of the Senate and Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House, announced and certified the votes of the Electoral College for the 2008 presidential election. From the electoral votes of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, Vice President Cheney declared 365 electoral votes for both Barack Obama of the state of Illinois and Joseph Biden of the state of Delaware and 173 electoral votes for both John McCain of the state of Arizona and Sarah Palin of the state of Alaska. Based on the results of the
Oprah Winfrey's endorsement of Barack Obama got his start appearing on Winfrey's show, into a household name, hit talk show host, and the author of multiple best-sellers. On September 25, 2006, Winfrey appeared on Larry King Live and was asked about a fan who started a campaign to get Winfrey to run for president. Larry King noted that Winfrey's lawyers had apparently warned the man to stop the campaign. Winfrey chided the lawyers and advised the fan to "take all your energy, and put it in Barack Obama". Winfrey explained that Obama was her favorite senator and she hoped he would run for president. Then, on