Obama has excelled in selling his political ideas by "expanding the market" for his message, said Mark Newsom, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Chernoff Newman, a South Carolina consumer marketing firm that has conducted polls to track the marketing strengths of presidential candidates.

Like Winfrey, Jordan and Woods, Obama's appeal conveys what Newsom calls "the X-factor or the star factor ... a core strength that is very engaging."

But the common bond shared by all these successful people, he said, is that "they are superlative in their field. Michael is a fantastic athlete, Oprah a great entertainer, and Barack brings a very fresh outlook to things."

To many American voters, "he's a good-looking guy who is intelligent and articulate and the kind of person who I would like to hang out with," Newsom said.