Oh, No, Oprah
Television and politics are closely related, an example of which is Oprah Winfrey becoming the Boss Tweed of the 2008 election now that she's decided to produce The Barack Obama Show.
Not since William Howard Taft decided to run for re-election in 1912 has so much weight been thrown into a presidential campaign.
Oprah coming out of the closet and announcing she will openly work for Obama in New Hampshire and other primaries has created shock and awe in the think tanks of candidates of all persuasions, especially in the Clinton camp.
What do I think of this possible turning point in the race?
Well, if I was an Obama partisan, it would be enough to make a person eat a marshmallow hot dog, smothered in maple syrup, or whatever else it took to get the nation's leading talk show host to regain the 67 pounds that she once considered her best fighting weight.
With the open mind of an objective non-partisan journalist, this is how I see the biggest news of the media campaign so far and its impact on the two Big O's.
Obviously, Oprah has shown very good judgment in establishing a school for girls in Africa, which turned out to be a good place for girls to be sexually assaulted.
She's put people on her shows who turned out to be frauds and conmen, from doctors who didn't have the proper credentials to authors who made up their supposed non-fiction.
For me the idea of Oprah throwing her considerable weight behind Obama might be a very good reason to vote for someone else.
On the other hand, she can't be discounted. She has a tremendous following, the so-called lemming vote.
Many TV viewers would follow her if she said, "Vote for Hitler. He's kind to his dogs."
Not to compare Obama with Hitler.
She tells people what to think, what to wear, what to take if they are sick with colds.
So what if Airborne, one of the breakthroughs in modern medical science she promoted, turned out to be nothing but a bunch of vitamins. Nevertheless, it suddenly sold like hotcakes. Oprah's cold remedy is more effective than the "I'm- Not- a- Doctor- I- Just- Look- Like- One" school of medicine in TV commercials.
She solves America's moral issues. Oprah made it okay for Ellen to be gay back in the 1990s.
She's the nation's school mistress today, scolding those who violate the unwritten laws of Oprah's Code, more powerful than the Napoleonic Code (except in Louisiana) She excoriates those who misbehave in public, and praises those who are examples of self-reliance and moral rectitude. She's the wagging finger of America today.
Oprah has more influence, I dare say, than the President of the United States.
I can see why she takes herself in politics as seriously as Sean Penn.
Still I worry about Oprah taking off her TV work clothes and rolling around in mud with other pols and their media manipulators.
What if Obama turns out to be the next James Frey (Oprah Book Club #54)? What if the campaign speeches turn out to be a million little pieces of phony campaign rhetoric, or even worse, stretching the truth beyond its usual limits in political races?
Will he need to go on the Oprah show and apologize to Oprah and the electorate for misleading them?
For example, would he sit down on the couch with Ms. Morality and retract the remark he made about how as president he would bomb Pakistan if they didn't go after Al Qaeda sufficiently.
Would he admit that he didn't know what he was talking about at that point in time, or that he was just shooting from the lip?
There is historical precedent. George Romney, who many think was Mitt's father, went on television and admitted he was brainwashed in Vietnam. I always thought that was the pivotal moment in the 1968 campaign.
If Oprah had remained on the sidelines, her show might be a good place for all politicians to confess their sins, a real contribution to democratic discourse.
I worry that Oprah's public endorsement of a political candidate might be her moment of hubris. She may now have finally jumped the shark. This could prove to the world that Oprah has no clothes, which would be a terrible thing. Up to now she has been Grande Dame of talk show hosts, heiress to Virginia Graham's crown.
I especially worry about her future on TV. How else will I know what book to read? I'd be wandering around aimlessly in Barnes & Noble's or Border's, picking whatever seemed interesting or aroused my curiosity. What a waste of time that would be.
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Oh c'mon that was funny. Mr. Kittman used to have a column "The Marvin Kittman Show" about television, for television, that television might not perish. "As usual" he asks us to think about what's on the television and today wow there's a lot more than three major networks. I still haven't figured out if television personalities are the "third rail" that candidates shouldn't touch...we'll see.
So i don't like Oprah, big deal.
So I don't like Obama, big deal.
In the last couple of days suddenly I've seen pictures of Obama with Sharpton and another with Jackson, big deal.
I want to know when Farrahkan is going to come out of the closet. I want to know what deal he's going to make with Obama. I suspect he wants people in particular jobs such as National Security.
Oprah is just a distraction.
My mom opened a school for underprivelaged kids in Haiti two years ago. No CNN, no New York Times. No sexual abuse there because she keeps her eye on it on a daily basis (My mom is 89). Oprah's school was a PR thing, like everything else she does.
Sorry I thought you were a woman Mr. Author. The way you sounded was like a woman hating another woman at work. Still your article is useless and has no merit but hate.
First post Ive read from you Mrs Author and I'll never read another again. I hate it when people say actor should stick to acting and performers to performing. Like it sooo bad to have an opinion. Who said you have to stick to one thing or another and not enter the political arena. Oprah instills fear and I can smell it all over this page..
pfft, Saint Oprah jumped the shark years ago when she adopted that Serene Highness expression along with prayerful hands clasped to her ample bosoms. (and I can't forgive her for foisting that blowhard Dr. Philibuster on an unsuspecting public)
She has not only lost touch with regular folk but she is so star-struck, it's laughable. Latching onto Obama and hoping to propel him to the White House is her wildest dream ~ensuring that she has a place to sleep in Washington when she visits?
Having said all that, I like Obama. :)
yet another post saying oprah should not endorse a candidate.
one word for this trend:
PHHHHHHHT.
Some of you seem to think Oprah is trying to "buy" the presidency for Obama? Big Deal!! Just because faceless plutocrats are trying to buy the presidency for Hillary, doesn't make it less equal.
Oprah is simply going to bat for her champion, just like Hillary's well-heeled lemmings are for her.
Sounds like you're scared of Ms. O, Mr. Kitman!
What your article is really trying to do is incite doubt in Oprah and Obama: reference to the school girl being sexually assaulted at the Leadership Academy; trying to make readers think Obama is the next James Frey (Ha!); and general anti-Oprah sentiment. We're not buying it, Mr. Kitman-Rove! Why not write an article about Barbara Streisand endorsing Bill and Hillary, or someone like that? Why is Oprah singled out? Your subtext actually reads FEAR of Ms. O and her influence on voters! If you don't think Oprah will make an impact on voters, why waste time and energy on this article? She has every right to campaign and get-out-the-vote for Obama just like anyone else. Why should she be the only one scrutinized?
I have to wonder if your article would have read the same if Oprah had endorsed Hillary or John (or whomever your chosen candidate is)? I doubt it! Instead your headline probably would have read: O Endorses the Clintons! This Election Folks...is OVA! What is the REAL reason you dislike Oprah campaigning for Obama?
And, by the way, I love Airborne! It has saved me from many sick days in bed! Thank you, Oprah!
Oprah Winfrey is FAR FAR FAR from being or showing Hubris.
Mr. Kitman, you should KNOW what Hubris is before you write about it.
"hubris" referred to actions taken in order to shame the victim, thereby making oneself seem superior. It was illegal in Ancient Greece, and it should become illegal again.
What Oprah is doing, is probably arrogant, and ego centric engaging in POP Politics - what celebrity in the last thirty years has not done it. Look at Linda Ronstadt and Jerry Brown, that was the ultimate in Pop Politics - but NOT hubristic. OPhrah never intentionally exercises her superiority over others or threatens people.AND THERE IS NO VICTIM HERE, Mr. Kitman. .
However, IN AMERICA,, WE AS A SOCIETY, have gotten more Hubris, especially with the Housing Sector, Iraq, Islam and the Dollar, The delusion that the US is “the world’s sole superpower.
Oprah is not deluded either no more than Hillary Clinton or Bill Clinton - during the Lewinsky scandal.
Oprah is not full of hubris but America and its society is full of it and maybe YOU are associating her with what you see everyday around Oprah appears to be a well known person exercising their public status in a positive light.
You might friend are Hubristic.
As Paul Craig Roberts says, How did a people as stupid as Americans get so full of hubris? So how did you Mr. Kitman??
I guess no influential person is allowed to endorse Obama without being smeared. Only Hillary's allowed to have influential supporters, even if they're only supporting her because she's married to them.
Some people wrongly idolize Oprah. Just as with any other promotion or marketing campaign, Oprah is only as rich and influential as we consumers allow her to be. But this is beside the point.
What has to happen here is active participation on the part of all voters. Ultimately, it's up to the public to make an informed decision, regardless of which star supports which campaign. For Oprah to support Obama makes sense to her: now it is up to each voting American to decide which candidate to support. Americans must be willing to do get the facts on each candidate's platform, and then to get out there and vote.
In the meantime, everyone else around the world is just praying that Americans are smart enough to punch each and every chad correctly this time around.
Look, Oprah is NOT trying to get people to change their votes. She is endorsing the candidate that she likes for President. There is no "buying" of the presidency going on here, the limit of donations is $4600... not much clout there. Honestly, the only people who are stupid enough to change their vote just because of what Oprah says need to understand how important the vote is in this country. People DIE abroad for not voting for the "democratic" dictator. WE as Americans are charged with making our own decision, and just like you putting that bumper sticker on the back of your car, Oprah took her bumper sticker and put it on her lapel.
Oh stop freakin' picking apart the Oprah/Obama element. Why is it anyone and everyone can endorse Clinton, with no pickins, but when it comes to Obama, his endorsements have to be picked apart, scorned, weighed, disected, boiled, fryed, glazed, barbecued, and drained. It's awful. Oprah Winfrey who happens to be a megastar is backing Obama. So What!!! Somebody has to back somebody. If she had thrown her backing behind Clinton we would be reading none of this slosh day after Oprah day after Oprah day. It is only because it is Obama. Oprah never once said people will vote for him because she is backing him and neither has he said that. It is only the media creating all these scenarios, to wage a fight, a war, or maybe because all yous who are really for Clinton are afraid seeing Oprah backing Obama, that's it. Well, too damn bad. Just because she is celebrity doesn't mean she must shut up politically. This is her America too and dagnabbit, she can back whomever she wants just like any and all of us, and we all just need to go support whomever we want and stop trying to make more or less of it than it is and let 'nature take its course'. And while we're on the subject here, where's Magic stumpin' for Clinton?
Hey Oprah's a big girl. If she wants to support Obama she has every right to. I personally think Obama would get creamed in the general election if for no other reason than he is black. That said I believe he would make a better president than any of the Republican candidates. If he had the right staff he could be great. His heart is in the right place and that counts for more than most people give credit for. For that matter speaking of heart Oprah's seems to be well placed too. God bless them both.
Oprah is seriously out of touch with average Americans. Just look at her list of favorite things. Some of those things are way out of reach of ordinary people, but the Oprah lemmings will go over the cliff in order to have them because Oprah does. Her endorsement of Obama has just firmed up my opinion that he's not the candidate for me.
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