Oprah Cranks Up the Obama Machine
She’s sold Middle America on everyone from Anna Karenina to Jonathan Franzen to Elie Wiesel; now, she’s trying her hand at politics—but can Obama’s girl sell her guy?
Here were two people with impeccably manicured public images bemoaning the calculated spin of politics. Two professionally driven people paying homage to life outside of work. If you tested the exchange for traces of organic life, the results would probably come back negative.
But thanks to the fertile emotional agar of The Oprah Winfrey Show, the interview was well received. In the end, the proven convention-hall orator walked away with some much-needed small-room credibility. At one point, Ms. Winfrey asked the senator from Illinois about his presidential ambitions. “So if you were ever to run … would you announce on this show?”
“I don’t think I could say no to you,” replied Mr. Obama. And a few seconds later: “Oprah, you’re my girl.”
Ms. Winfrey did not get to break the big news—but she is definitely Obama’s girl, supporting the Illinois senator’s presidential bid in her typically big, multiplatform way. And now, the the “My Girl” interchange is campaign-famous.
In what the Internet universe refers to as “meatspace,” there’s the big Sept. 8 fund-raiser for Mr. Obama—to be held at her $64 million estate in Montecito, Calif. (Tara II, it’s called.)
That’s going well: It was apparently so in demand among Democrats that tickets were restricted to the 250 members of Mr. Obama’s national finance committee. Each got seven of the coveted $2,300 tickets to sell to friends who want to give the primary-season limit to Mr. Obama—or who just want to get a look at the talk-show queen’s 23,000-square-foot Georgian style mansion, or stroll the 42 acres of ponds, orchards and rustic outbuildings.
But the millions of dollars the event will raise for Mr. Obama is not the most interesting thing Ms. Winfrey has to offer his campaign.
“My money isn’t going to make any difference,” Ms. Winfrey told Larry King in May. “My value to him, my support of him is probably worth more than any check that I could write.”
And, though she told her interviewer that no, she wouldn’t be running for office herself, she did admit that with this campaign she was expanding her role in politics.
So, can Ms. Winfrey expand her kingmaking into politics?
“I think this is a celebrity endorsement,” said Martin Kaplan, a research professor at the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and erstwhile White House speechwriter.
Of course she can make people like him. But can she get people to vote for him?
“Most research,” Mr. Kaplan said, “says, ‘No.’”
But that’s just the kind of research many political insiders are eager to see put to the test. Next Page >
- Poll
- Obama (D)
- McCain(R)
- Spread
- RCP Average
- 49.4
- 42.8
- Obama +6.6
- Candidate
- Favorable
- Unfavorable
- Spread
- Obama
- 56.4
- 36.3
- +20.1
- McCain
- 50.1
- 41.3
- +8.8
Ethel put down the kool-aid. We don't need Obama, we need someone who has stayed in one place long enough to learn, be tested and be ready. We don't need someone prepared to destabilize a country with nuclear weapons to catch one man even if that one man is Bin laden. I had thought he would make a great Vice President but he's even comming up short there
You go, girl. Keep on Obaminating. Old white men will start to look good again.
Good for Oprah, Great for Obama, I hope she televise the event, this is my first time voting and I'm happy and excited to give my support and vote to Obama.
Obama, you are our man America needs you now more than ever, send the Hillary back to Arkansas where she belongs, along with her pup Bill.
Caren put down the wine you are drinking. We need someone who is for the people. Someone who is trying to run on their husband's agenda. Hell that is why the college graduates are having a hard time finding jobs (NAFTA). We also do not need someone who wants to double the H1B Visas. We need someone who is for Americans not for putting money in their own pockets. I don't need someone in the White House who is a wife. I need someone who can stand on their own. I need someone who can make decisions and do not have to call their husband when they are not winning or do not know how to fight the problem ie Selma. Bill had to call in favors to get her invited. Hell if she keep trying to call Bill in to do the job when she does not have it, hell what would she do when she gets the job. I need someone who can make the right decision. Not voting for a war and then trying to blame it on someone else. It is just as much her war as it is Bush's war. I hope you put down the wine so you can think logically.
It's interesting that the Obama campaign distributed the tix to the members of his Finance Committee. It tells me everything I need to know about the candidate's priorities.
Obama is proving, sadly, to be a lightweight. Oprah has proven that she is a phony, over and over. Remember Beloved? Oprahs backing can sometimes be the kiss of death! They kind of deserve each other. Two African Americans that are more white than some of the "white-men" running!!!
Unfortunately, I think Sen. Clinton will get the nomination. She won't get my vote in the Primary, because it'll go to Rep. Kucinich, Sen. Biden, or Sen. Obama. I am offended by the nature of Her Campaign. Its tone has become less about of convincing me to vote for her and more about the inevitability of her Presidency. I hate to remind her that we have elections and not ORDINATIONS. Moreover, exactly what experience does she keep claiming? I recognize that she was Married to the Governor of Arkansas who later became P.O.T.U.S., but what exactly has she done? Oh, she is a Senator... is/was she Minority or Majority learder or whip? What leadership position has she held? Has she ever walked out onto a limb and convinced anyone to follow her? Why does she always seem to be the last into the pool? Also that remark at the Forum "Not engaging in Hypotheticals" and "not saying what your thinking", sounded like a page from "Bush/Cheney/Rove... politics for dummies".
Senator Obama at least comes at the obstacles that face MY COUNTRY from a different angle. OBVIOUSLY the old way hasn't worked. HE's incorrect in saying its time to "turn the page" on the Bush/Clinton/Bush dynasty... We should close the book. If he was to move his rhetoric towards the Populist stuff that Fmr. Sen. Edwads, or (dreams of dreams) Rep. Kucinich he would beat Senator Clinton like a red-headed step child. I believe he's the Candidate most Americans want to vote for, but he needs to give the Clinton supporters an excuse to jump ship.
He has proven to be a lightweight. In my opinion he is not ready for the office. I like Oprah but I don't think she will have that much influence on this election.
Would it be possible for the Clinton Library to open the files of Hillary Clinton related to her time as First Lady?
This would give everyone a chance to evaluate her experience and judge if she is ready to serve as President.
BTW: Will Mrs. Clinton going be going on Oprah's show?
Neither one of those dogs will hunt. Hillary will win the nomination, but not the big show. Obama is too green behind the ears. Trust me on this one, you're first female or African-American president will be a Republican. I would vote for Condi in a heart beat. But she's not running. My bet would be on Rudy. Go Rudy!
Caren,
You are an idiot just like the majority of Americans, you're one of the reasons why this country is in the condition it's in right now, I would guess you are a "repug" that voted for the idiot we have in the White House, I believe Bugs Bunny would do a better job in the "WH" than what we're getting right now, can't wait for 2008!!
I'm with you Ethel
As an outsider (a Black Canadian), foreign policy will be the thing I will watch for. Obama is weak in terms of foreign policy while Clinton has been known to flip flop on it. So to my mind its 6 of one, half dozen of the other.
And if the Republicans have any sense they will keep their mouths shut, let Obama and Clinton politically stab at each other, and then come in to take the prize... leaving me to sigh in resignation.
Oprah's facination with herself and her belief that all white people will just stand and salute when she enters a room will come crashing down around her ears when the first primary is held. I like Oprah just like anybody else, but, she's an entertainer not your best friend. Why do you suppose after all these years the only person she endorses is a state senator from Illinois who has'nt even finished his first term as senator? If her only reason she endorses him is because hes black what does that say about her judgement? a million little pieces thats what!
What the recent debate showed is that Senator Obama is the only candidate with a reasonable chance that isn't "politics as usual". Biden would have been a good candidate but his time has passed. Kucinich is high on something. Dodd is a hack. Edwards is interesting but not believable. If we don't begin changing U.S. politics then someone will do it for us one of these days: just like the two Saudi butt-puppets in power right now.
I don't really care about what they say and what they'll do. I just want history and get rid of the republicans since they don't know squat.
Obama wants to invade Pakistan, the only Muslim nation with nuclear weapons and one of the US's major muslim allies. That right there should disqualify him.
To my mind, he's a repeat of GW Bush, some of you who have memories longer then the typical 30 second sound bite might recall that in 2000 G.W.B. foreign policy proposals were centered around not having the U.S. be "the world's Cop" the way it had been under Clinton - in other words our Warmonger in chief actually ran on a campaign to scale back our governments tendency towards military adventurism. Compared to him, Obama's rhetoric sounds positively hawkish.
Clinton II is even worse. Threatening to nuke Iran - or anyone else - is just downright insane. The rest of the world is already pissed at us enough, can you imagine what would happen if the US used nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear power like Iran? We would be a pariah state, even more then we already are under Bush and Americans all over the world would be lynched in the streets, and not just by muslims.
NO ONE has used nukes, not even once, in warfare since we dropped the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, despite the fact that most industrialized countries have them. If the US was to break the global norm that no one should ever nuke first it would give every other nucler power carte blanche to use them, and it wouldn't take long before we found ourselves under nuclear attack.
We are not the worlds only superpower and we need to stop assuming that we are and will always be. the EU is stronger then us economically, politically, and - if they were to break off from NATO and form an independent military command - militarily as well. China is HUGE and will be a superpower within a generation. India is also huge and growing at a phenomenal rate, and both of them are already nuclear powers. Even Russia still has thousands of nukes that can reach us. If we try to bully the rest of the world into submission it won't be long until those other powers sit down and figure out a new global order that relegates us to backwater status, and there won't be a damn thing we can do about it.
If America wants to have a future we need to stop spending more then 50% of our federal tax budget on the military and military-related costs and pump some of that money back to the states to pay for things like fixing our schools and supporting higher education. Our public schools are the laughingstock of the entire industrialized world - the stupid ignorant uneducated American is regular fare on European and Australian comedies. There's a reason why Clinton is so keen to import scientists and engineers from other countries with the H1-B visas - because our schools are so pathetic compared to the rest of the world that we can't even produce enough engineers to meet our own economies needs. And that's just one of a hundred other real issues that none of the media-anointed "frontrunners" is willing to even touch because they're too busy trying to polish their images and rattle sabers at the rest of the world.
In short, the Pax Americana is officially past-tense. America only became a superpower because we are the largest industrialized country and because Europe was too busy tearing itself to pieces to work together. None of those things are true today. Europe - which has always been bigger then us in terms of population and economy - is now unified politically and economically and in a generation China and India will be industrialized and both are far bigger then us. We are a has-been power and we need to get used to that. Our only chance to stay relevant is to do what the British did after WWII and dismantle our foreign bases, turn the security of the world over to the rest of the world, and deal with problems at home instead of trying to hold onto an empire that is fast slipping out of our grasp. If we refuse to go gracefully and voluntarily we will be thrown out forcefully - the same way the French were thrown out of Algeria when they tried to outstay their strength. That war when it comes will make Vietnam and Iraq look like walks in the park. Let's just hope that whoever ends up as president isn't stupid enough to try and fight it with Nuclear weapons because the only possible result of a large-scale nuclear war is Mutually Assured Destruction, and no one wants that.
Oprah is nothing but a black racist that wants to take down white people. But white women are the ones who watch her dumb ass show. how about the rapist from georgia who raped a 15 year old white girl and oprah said he did nothing wrong and it was whitey that was making it a black and white case. Hey oprah, how about calling him a animal that he is. you gave him money to defend himself against the poor little girl that got raped. but its ok for the left wing liberals to do this.
I'am an African American Doctor. I love Ms. Winfrey; however, I will not be voting for Mr. Obama. The Black Male will experience more advancement with President Hillary Clinton in Washington, D.C. Thank you.
Dr. C.O.Ryan Houston, Texas
I'd like to see a Clinton/Obama ticket. Obama is not ready to be President. Most shocking was his long pause in answering the question "name 5 US allies in the world..." Hillary has the detail, the experience and the where with all to get it done. She is extremely well versed in policy issues and can explain their relevance and significance to ordinary people. Obama's message of hope and consensus/understanding is inspiring and relevant. Cheney/Rove et al were "divide and conquer" - Clinton/Obama would build consensus on issues relevant to real people. They would be great leaders. I would love if an MTV etc. "Get out and vote" campaign was launched. A 50% turn out is a disgrace.