The Magic Touch?

"I don't know -- my Scottish friends say I should be called 'First Laddie,' " Clinton said. "It's the closest thing to 'First Lady.' " He added: "I'm not so worried about what I'm called as what I'm called upon to do."

The possibilities of Winfrey's fledgling partnership with Obama are immense but uncertain, said Mark Anthony Neal, a professor of African American studies at Duke University. They really raise a single, pivotal question: Can Winfrey do for a political candidate what she did for books?

What Winfrey did for books is the stuff of marketing legend.

Between 1996 to 2002, titles recommended by "Oprah's Book Club" typically resulted in sales of more than a million copies, a staggering number considering that a typical novel might be judged a success with 20,000 sales. Winfrey disbanded the club in 2002, though she later reinstated it, drawing her loyalists to classic titles.

Susan Harrow, author of a book that advises commercial and charitable groups on how to land appearances on Winfrey's show, said she is convinced a Winfrey pitch will work on voters.

The reason, she said, is that her viewers are more than just a television audience. "They are followers."

"People trust her opinion, I think, even more than they trust their own," Harrow said.

Neal isn't as certain.

"She can deliver a constituency to the marketplace, no question," Neal said. "People feel very differently about spending their money than they do about casting a vote."

But the sway over people's money, at least, will be evident as cars snake up Pacific Coast Highway into Montecito, and vans shuttled the well-heeled donors from parking facilities to Winfrey's compound Saturday.

If it wasn't clear to her loyalists how big a step it was for her to offer up this mansion for a fundraiser, she hammered that point in her chat with King.

"To offer it, you're right," Winfrey said, "it's no small thing for me. . . . I'm really not a political person. I believe that he offers a fresh opportunity of hope for America. So that's why I'm in it. I probably won't ever be in it again."

Polling researcher Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.