Babs vs. Oprah

Will the support of Barbara Striesand for Hillary Clinton be enough to fight off the dynamic duo of Oprah and Obama ? Can an over-the-hill singer counter the star power of America's favorite talk show host? Will voters forget Oprah's free car giveaway fiasco where many of the studio audience couldn't afford the taxes on the "free" cars?

Finally some substance to the boring Democratic primary campaign. Who wants to hear about the Bush War of Aggression, health care or the economy? Now we have something we can really sink our teeth into.

In Columbia, S.C., where Winfrey and the Obamas appear Sunday afternoon, demand for tickets was so great that the campaign moved the event from an 18,000-seat site to Williams-Brice Stadium, an 80,000-seat football stadium that is home to the University of South Carolina Gamecocks, according to Kevin Griffis, a spokesman for the candidate.

"We know we are not going to fill all that venue," said Griffis, "but we wanted to make sure we gave everyone who wants to see Oprah and Sen. Obama a chance."

Winfrey's appearance in South Carolina -- where African Americans count for half of Democratic voters, and African American women are a highly courted bloc -- was expected to be especially helpful to Obama. Tickets in Columbia were first offered online, Griffis said, and thousands of people claimed them within hours. A week ago, fans hoping to pick up tickets in person started lining up at 6:30 a.m., 3 1/2 hours before the campaign office opened.

The Clinton camp is responding with some star power of its own in South Carolina. President Clinton will campaign for his wife in the state today.

Singer Barbra Streisand announced recently that she supports Clinton. Though it's not clear whether the diva will stump for her candidate, Mellman mused that Bill Clinton and Streisand against Winfrey "is probably a fair fight."