'I'm not voting for Barack Obama because he's black ...'

Oprah is one of the most naturally gifted orators of all time, and that's on show at this campaign rally for Barack Obama, on this day 15 years ago. It was a massively influential endorsement.

There’s beautiful repetition in this speech, and much of it is driven by the way an experienced speaker rides the waves of crowd noise.

‘That is what the struggle was for, that is what the struggle was for’.

‘I'm a free woman. I'm a free woman. I'm a free woman. I'm a free woman.’

‘No, I'm not a traitor (to women). I'm just following my own truth, and that truth has led me to Barack Obama. Oh, yeah. The truth has led me to Barack Obama’

The issue of whether Oprah should have been supporting a woman (Hillary Clinton) because she is a woman, or whether she should be supporting a black man (Barack Obama) because she is a black woman is at the heart of this short and beautifully eloquent speech.