Oprah On Obama: I'm Not Getting Into "This Political Situation"

TORONTO — Oprah Winfrey may have been instrumental in getting Barack Obama elected president, but now claims she's on the sidelines.

"I have not said one thing about this political situation and don't intend to," Winfrey said. "Everybody knows that I was a big campaigner for Obama and I still am. I think he's doing a great job. I think that it's the toughest job in the world with the economy and health care and all of that."

Obama has faced some strong resistance to his health care reform plans in recent weeks. On Monday he was addressing the country's economic woes with a speech in New York to outline financial changes meant to avert another crisis like the one that sent the global economy into a tailspin a year ago.

Winfrey made her comments Sunday night at the premiere of "Precious" at the Toronto International Film Festival. Winfrey is the executive producer of the movie, adapted from Sapphire's novel "Push."

"Precious" tells the story of an overweight, illiterate young woman who goes through some unimaginable hardships but eventually feels redeemed. Winfrey acknowledged that she was also the victim of these types of domestic and social abuses to some degree. Yet she said it doesn't matter who is in office when it comes to finding solutions.

"I think that the message of this film is that those problems are not solved by government," said Winfrey, host of "The Oprah Winfrey Show." "The character of the film didn't suffer because of government, she suffered because she was never loved."

As far as the government is concerned, Winfrey feels that she did her part to institute change.

In 2006, before Obama announced his candidacy, Winfrey shed her apolitical stance by endorsing him. Her media clout helped propel his appeal to the nation and gave him an edge in the primaries.

"My job was to make people, or allow people, to be introduced to Obama, who might not have been, at the time," she said. "I wanted him elected, and I think I did that."

___

On the Net:

http://www.weareallprecious.com/

http://www.oprah.com/

Comments

[Mary Mayple]

Oprah must be a racist.

[DavidEBock]

I guess "Grass Roots", "By the people for the people", and "Yes WE can".... are for us "other folk" who are more concerned with moving forward and making changes for what we believe in. Granted, I'm not a multi-millionaire with an estate to protect.

That's like saying.. I did MY part by voting, now I'm going to sit and watch what happens. Maybe politics is NFL after all! All I need to do is buy the TV. Everyone else does the rest.

[blueskybigstar]

It is very, very, very ironic that she was used as the queen in a chess mass by the execs, right wing, and perhaps CIA to take Donahue off the air who was doing much to expose the crimes of the Reagan and GHWB administrations.

[blueskybigstar]

chess match

[toocoldout]

Actually her success expanded Donahue's one little show into an entire industry. After Oprah hit the scene we got dozens of Oprah & Doanhue clones that increasingly pushed the envelope and challenged taboos. A Yale study found that the tabloid talk show genre, pioneered by Donahue, but turned into a huge industry by Oprah, did more to make gays mainstream than any other 20th century development. Read FREAKS TALK BACK by Joshua Gamson.

[blueskybigstar]

Donahue talked about serious subjects in politics such as Iran Contra. They needed him off the air.

[AnnfromCA]

Smart move. She really lost a lot of viewers when she used her fame and her show for politics.

[blueskybigstar]

She never used her show for politics.

Her viewers have just become much more political and don't have time for her anymore. She has covered every subject that she is ever going to cover and the celebrity interviews and selling movies are tiring.

[toocoldout]

Actually she uses her show for politics all the time. She promoted Michael Moore's movie SICKO twice last year & is promoting his latest movie next week or so.

[jcwtts1]

nonsense. she dropped 7 percent, which is about the portion of her audience with TIVO

[toocoldout]

And she seems to have completely rebounded:

"So far, the push to get her ratings back has paid off, at least in New York.

Ratings for last Thursday's street concert show were up 53 percent over last year.

Her show on Friday -- featuring ESPN reporter Erin Andrews and Lisa Ling -- did even better, up a whopping 73 percent over Winfrey's second show last season."

http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/say_can_you_see_MTdDDNte5oq3KyjrGgMqfL;jsessionid=CDF7814696EEB40661F524728E0022E3

[SilenceDoGood1776]

She doesn't want to make a stand because she'll lose advertising dollars from Insurance and pharm companies.

[jcwtts1]

No she doesn't want to take a stand because it isn't her job to take a stand. She did her political bit and now she is back to what she was before.

[Chapmanp2]

Thank you Oprah!!! Yes we did & you played a huge role.
What's really cool & totally unreported in the media is that Oprah did it without using her show.
She refused to use her power to exploit politics & simply lent her name to a cause she believed in while keeping her show out of the mix. We think you're a class act Oprah!!!

[SilenceDoGood1776]

where's the headline?
ACORN promotes slavery and under age prostitution.

[Golden Ticket]

That's very progressive!

[raker]

If Oprah really wants to help people "live their best lives," she wouldn't worry about offending troglodytes by expressing her opinions in support of justice and human dignity. Unless Oprah thinks that health care should be available only to people with lots of money. That would sure be interesting. Either way, being the most influential woman in America, she ought to be more forthcoming with her views on things like this that really matter, not just makeovers and diets and grotesque materialism.

[SilenceDoGood1776]

Oprah, just another rich capitalist.

[raker]

Being a rich capitalist isn't necessarily a bad thing. But if the capitalist in question got rich by pretending to be caring and open and won the world's trust with this apparent core value of altruism, then she ought to be willing to go out on a limb with her views on things that matter. (Put her mouth were her money is?)

[silcar]

Why doesn't she stand up and support the policies of the President she worked to elect?
Doesn't she have enough money to forget the ratings and take risky stand?

[PrimeIrishBeef]

I wonder did jumping off the bandwagon hurt?

[akababs]

Basically, Oprah learned that despite her billion dollar empire, she's still just a black woman in America. Translation - as long as she stayed in her place, meaning non-threatening to whites, she was loved by the white masses, but when she dared to speak her truth, namely that Barack Obama was the best choice for the presidency, then she was reminded that she was only Oprah because white folk said she was Oprah. Now the ratings suggests that she's just another black woman.

[toocoldout]

Yet she still remains the highest rated talk show on TV even after 24 years.

[noudidnt]

I've fanned you.

[Lilly-G]

You truly oversimplify the situation. She didn't become a billionaire by accident.

[mi]

So glad your job is over Oprah.
Yes, we got Obama in the White House, now let's
help the President do the right thing for the
American people without your financial resources.
Do something that has real meaning and stand
up for his principles..
You don't just plant a seed, you have to help it
grow.

[Wardruna]

She only serves one master.

[barackobama4prez]

Don't do it Oprah! It's a set up!

[Mij13]

Oprah Wimpy.