With Oprah's endorsement of Barack Obama, or the "Oprah Effect" as some call it, getting all the buzz lately, Hillary Clinton's campaign recently made a counter move with an endorsement from one of America's most beloved writers, Maya Angelou.

The award-winning poet is featured in a new South Carolina radio ad in which she calls Clinton, "my girl." In the 60 second ad, which appears only within the state, Angelou says, "I am inspired by Hillary Clinton - a daughter, a wife, a mother. My girl."

She continues saying, "Each generation of African-Americans stands on the shoulders of those who came before," Angelou says in the ad. "Today, the challenges facing us threaten the dreams we have had for our children. We need a president with the experience and strength to meet those challenges."



Despite her relationship with Oprah, Angelou's friendship with Hillary dates back to when former president Bill Clinton was still senator of Arkansas. Angelou was also the poet for Bill's 1993 inauguration address.

The ad started circulating at the same time as the Sunday rally of more than 29,000 at Williams-Brice Stadium in South Carolina for Barack Obama, prominently featuring Oprah and other celebrities.

At this point in the campaign trail, the competition seems to have veered away from all those important issues and right now appears to be a game of "who can attract the bigger names."

So in case you were wondering, so far, notable celebrity campaign endorsements for Hillary include, actor Barbera Streisand, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Madonna and of course, rapper 50 cent.

While Obama is backed by George Clooney, Eddie Murphy, Steven Spielberg, Jennifer Aniston, to name just a few and of course the all mighty "Oprah Effect".

With it being chic to publicly endorse the democratic front-runners and all these celebrities voicing their support, the question is, how much do these endorsements really influence the voting public?