Oprah Winfrey campaigns for Barack Obama

DES MOINES, Iowa, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Oprah Winfrey hit the campaign trail in Iowa for Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, telling a rally Saturday he "has a new vision."

Winfrey, one of the most powerful people in the entertainment industry, drew thousands of people to the Des Moines event, part of a three-state tour with the candidate, CNN reported.

"These are dangerous times, you can feel it," she said in Des Moines. "We need a leader who shows us how to hope again in America as a force for peace,"

Winfrey was expected to draw 8,500 people at another rally in Cedar Rapids. She and Obama are to visit New Hampshire and South Carolina Sunday.

While the contest for the Democratic nomination remains in flux, polls show Obama gaining in the three states, especially in New Hampshire where rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., has seen her lead narrow to single digits, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Winfrey has an overwhelmingly female fan base, and it remains to be seen if she can influence a presidential election, Democratic pollster Mark Mellman said Friday. But she has shown her power by putting scores of books on best-seller lists, including Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina."