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Oprah for President: You Don't Have to Like Her

Remember what Oprah told people just before the 2016 election when all of a sudden there was a flurry of people saying they didn't like Hillary? She said, you don't have to like her, she's not coming over to your house for dinner, just vote for her.

Now people are chanting Oprah, 2020.
I'm not sure I can think of a person, male or female, that could beat Oprah.

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    No. Have we not learned (5.00 / 6) (#4)
    by Towanda on Mon Jan 08, 2018 at 02:34:50 PM EST
    the importance of experience in governing?

    For winning, use her -- as Obsms did.

    But he didn't then hire her.

    Yep (5.00 / 1) (#14)
    by Yman on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 08:14:38 AM EST
    I'd vote for anyone opposing the orange buffoon, but I don't want Oprah.  She seems like a nice person, but I want someone who's experienced in politics and a policy wink.

    Parent
    i want a real democrat (5.00 / 1) (#15)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 08:18:31 AM EST
    who can win.

    Parent
    They're not mutually exclusive (none / 0) (#17)
    by Yman on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 08:34:52 AM EST
    Especially after Trump.  But I prefer a real Democrat with experience and policy knowledge to a real Democrat celebrity.

    Parent
    Oprah has been an activist (none / 0) (#19)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 08:46:49 AM EST
    probably as long as you.  she has schools in africa.  she has as much experience dealing with foreign leaders your average pol.   probably more.

    Parent
    None of which ... (5.00 / 2) (#20)
    by Yman on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 08:55:01 AM EST
    ... makes you knowledgeable about the process of politics or the substance if policy, other than schools in Africa.  She sounds like a very nice person.  She's not qualified to be POTUS, let alone the most qualified "real Democrat".

    Parent
    What the heck (none / 0) (#30)
    by Chuck0 on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 03:57:50 PM EST
    is a "real" Democrat?


    Parent
    I would say (none / 0) (#33)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 04:43:26 PM EST
    One who has been in the trenches fighting for the things we say we believe in for a long time.

    Parent
    Yes, or, at least, (none / 0) (#6)
    by KeysDan on Mon Jan 08, 2018 at 04:01:59 PM EST
    learn more about her from a governmental executive perspective.  Miss Winfrey's political attraction should not be just her celebrity show business/commercial business successes , such as in we need a businessperson to run the country.  But, rather, and also, her capabilities to govern and to unite and inspire citizens toward achievement.

     Her Golden Globe award acceptance speech did a lot toward the latter, but one speech does not make a president, although, as with then Illinois State Senator Obama, it does make you take notice.

      And, with Miss Winfrey, notice a familiar entity in another manner.  As a TV personality, Oprah introduced audiences to performers such as Dr. Oz, Jenny McCarthy and Dr. Phil...but not, in my view, the best people to inhabit a presidential administration.

     So there is more to it.  However, I do like the idea being put out there: another reason for Trump to have a Big Mac in bed as he tweets sweet dreams. And, another capable woman for him to be frightened by than Mrs. Clinton.


    Parent

    Oprah Winfrey is a liberal revenge fantasy. (none / 0) (#7)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon Jan 08, 2018 at 05:38:03 PM EST
    And unfortunately, time and again, there are far too many liberals who believe that their agenda will prevail solely due to the nobility of their character, while everyone else is somehow lacking in the same. As such, they've proved themselves just as impervious to reason as their right-wing nutball counterparts on the other side.

    Speaking as someone who's otherwise well left of center myself, I'm tired of having to deal with the messiah seekers amongst us, who only show up every four years and then throw sand in the gear shaft. In 2016, it was Bernie Sanders. In 2008, it was Obama. In 2004, it was Dennis Kucinich. In 2000, it was Bill Bradley.

    When are these people ever going to learn that there are no messiahs in politics, and that perfect is always the enemy of the good?

    Boorish white males aren't the only ones whose time should be up.

    Parent

    This might (none / 0) (#8)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon Jan 08, 2018 at 05:58:54 PM EST
    the only time ever in the universe that I agree with an evangelical but frankly these people NEED Jesus. If you are looking for a messiah in the political arena you need to find a religion and start practicing it.

    Parent
    It seems out there (none / 0) (#10)
    by MKS on Mon Jan 08, 2018 at 09:53:19 PM EST
    for Oprah to run.

    But she has always seemed level-headed.  And she did make her own money on her own.

    In this new world of celebrity worship, who knows?

    Probably not my fist choice....but who else is there?

    Parent

    She is everything Trump (none / 0) (#11)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 07:42:24 AM EST
    Claimed to be and is not.  

    I am not on the Oprah train.  Yet.   But I have a ticket.    And I might take the ride.   DfromH is right about at least one thing.  It is a liberal revenge fantasy.

    I believe that is one of the things that make it entirely possible.  There is a LOT of revenge fantasizing out there.

    I don't think J was advocating her candidacy.  What she said was she didn't think there was anyone who could beat her.  And I agreed.

    Bottom line, she is smart and she has enough empathy to come after Trump.  She really is a self made billionaire.  She really has run a hugely successful multinational corporation.  I do not think the president has to have "governing experience".  I don't.  Trump has proven that if nothing else.  In fact I can see why it might be a very good thing to have a chief executive who is not steeped in the back scratching and back rooming we refer to as government.  And I think there are lots of others who feel the same way.  Otherwise Trump would not be president.  

    I was early to say do not underestimate Trump.   I'm telling you.  Do not underestimate Oprah.

    Parent

    money on her own (none / 0) (#27)
    by thomas rogan on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 01:59:39 PM EST
    She made her money by being a celebrity.  Her cable network didn't do so well.  She is used to giving stuff away (endorsements, cars to her studio audience, etc).  She is not so experienced in not being the one who gives away the goodies--that is, at being the bad guy.
    And tell me that being the consummate Hollywood insider that she didn't know ALL ABOUT Harvey Weinstein for all those years.  Spare me.  And what about Bill Cosby?  
      http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-st-hollywood-cosby-20141127-story.html

    Parent
    Since you address your comment (5.00 / 2) (#29)
    by MKS on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 03:57:40 PM EST
    to me, I will respond.

    I am not all that sure she could overcome her lack of governmental experience.

    But she started out with nothing and is now worth over a billion dollars--without any dirty money from the Russians, as far as I know, or inheriting millions from her daddy.

    As to Cosby and Weinstein, blaming her makes no sense.  I would be more concerned about first person offenses, like bragging about assaulting women.  

    Parent

    On the gender note (5.00 / 1) (#35)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 04:55:04 PM EST
    It's been interesting to see the difference in the reaction from the bobble heads to a powerful successful man running for president as opposed to a powerful successful woman.

    Parent
    I agree (none / 0) (#1)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Jan 08, 2018 at 09:30:09 AM EST
    And I'm pretty sure she would be a kick ass president.

    Gotta say I cringed a little last night when Natalie Portman came out right after Oprah and said "here is the all male list of nominees for best director"

    To be clear I think Del Toro is a living God.  IMO there is not a living director who deserved it more.

    That said
    When a movie wins for best comedy and the female writer director is not even nominated .....

    Well. nuff said I guess.

    I just watched it again (none / 0) (#2)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Jan 08, 2018 at 10:40:50 AM EST
    My first impression was dead on.

    That was a presidential speech.  Its sinking in, Oprah is going to run for president.  I really think she is.

    First woman?  I will see you and raise you the first black woman.

    Anyone who has not seen it should watch it.  Really.  I'm sure it's everywhere.  I still had it on the DVR.

    Watching it I was thinking 'an Oprah/Donald debate would be PPV material'

    Parent

    Can't say that I'm a fan of hers. (none / 0) (#3)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon Jan 08, 2018 at 01:58:33 PM EST
    But if there was ever a woman who rose to the occasion to meet her moment, this was it. Oprah Winfrey was more than ready for her close-up, and she nailed it.

    The L.A. Times agreed, she nailed it. (none / 0) (#9)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon Jan 08, 2018 at 08:09:22 PM EST
    But then that paper's editorial board went much further, and I can't say that I disagree with them at all:

    Los Angeles Times | January 8, 2018
    Oprah for president? Have we learned nothing? - "We don't know whether the idea of Oprah Winfrey for president, inspired by Winfrey's eloquent speech Sunday at the Golden Globe Awards, will prove an ephemeral excitation or a movement with staying power. But we find it depressing. We mean no disrespect to Winfrey, who strikes us as much better informed and more intellectually curious and presumably less reckless or dishonest than the incumbent president. But it's bizarre that Americans who are appalled by Trump's oafish and ignorant conduct of the nation's highest office would gravitate to another television star untested in politics. [...] Again, this may just be a passing, Golden-Globes-inspired moment of Twitter hype. But it is also a reminder that when the last out-of-the-blue celebrity candidate entered a presidential race, the media shrugged him off as a joke. [...] Just because the Republicans were foolish enough to travel down this dangerous road -- in the process sacrificing many of their party's best qualities and most valuable principles in a desperate, craven hunt for votes -- doesn't mean the Democrats should follow suit."

    Aloha.

    Parent

    It would be another slap in the face (none / 0) (#5)
    by McBain on Mon Jan 08, 2018 at 03:11:02 PM EST
    to establishment politics. It would take us back to high school in terms of a popularity contest.

    "Back to high school"? (5.00 / 1) (#13)
    by Yman on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 08:12:00 AM EST
    So you're saying it would actually be progress over the 7th grade* bully we already have?

    *(no offense to 7th graders)

    Parent

    I think the establishment is changing, (none / 0) (#16)
    by Anne on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 08:31:56 AM EST
    or at least there seems to be a feeling that it needs to change, to grow and evolve and get out of the rut.  Lots of energy and heat and things bubbling under a surface that is less secure and solid, with the old guard feeling a bit unsure and perhaps threatened about.

    Given what's going on on the GOP side of the aisle and in the WH, the push/pull between change and stability will be strong.  People are feeling unsure about what's happening, know that much change is needed, and are struggling, I think to figure out where the balance point is.

    So...Oprah.

    I think there is a place for her in the political arena, but I don't know that it's at the top of a presidential ticket.  At least, not at the moment.

    But she has energy, she can inspire, she can challenge people to get up and out and on their feet.  We need people like that.

    As desperate as we are, as the consequences of Trump roll through the landscape, we must resist the temptation to grasp at straws, to mistake the mirage in the desert for an actual oasis.

    Let's worry about 2018 first - how well that goes may give us some direction for 2020.  

    Parent

    how many other potential (none / 0) (#18)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 08:42:10 AM EST
    dem candidates can you say this

    But she has energy, she can inspire, she can challenge people to get up and out and on their feet.  We need people like that.

    about.  no really.   i dont means US, the tiny portion of the population who get excited about a politician, i mean the country.  

    i happen to think that quote is absolutely the most important thing a chief executive can do.   there are, god knows, enough politicians in DC.

    few presidents inspire.  Obama did.  unfortunately he also, partly because of his professorial nature, inspired a massive backlash.

    Oprah relates.  she has been doing it for decades.  we need a leader to bring the country together.  maybe more than any time since post civil war.  

    look, i have no idea if she will run.   she probably doesnt really either.

    but this stuff about how leaders just simply HAVE to come from the world of politics is starting to drive me nuts.

    Parent

    There are (none / 0) (#21)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 09:35:45 AM EST
    some predictions that Trump is the end of the whole infotainment presidency and the country is going to want sane stable reliable leadership.

    I guess we shall see.

    Parent

    right (none / 0) (#22)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 09:54:13 AM EST
    i bet it the same predictors who said Trump could never win the nomination and NEVER win the presidency.

    the ever practical Nancy nailed it -

    Pelosi also appeared to criticize the current occupant of the Oval Office, suggesting Winfrey would approach the job with a different style:
    "Oprah has read books, she knows how to identify talent. So if we are going into a place where they are devaluing experience in terms of substance and legislative acumen and stuff like that, you might as well have somebody who knows what they don't know and would get the best possible people there."

    thats the deal.  you can admit this is where our voting public is or you can run a "policy wink" who know absolutley everything about the sausage making and has the standard amount of democratic verve.  or you can find a person who represents our ideals who can win.  
    i bellieve Nancy has exactly the right approach.

    one other thing.
    the idea we will be running against Trump is IMO very misguided.  i think Trump will be long gone by 2020.  we will be running against someone who at the very least is not demonstrably insane.  
    so theres is that.

    Parent

    I don't know (none / 0) (#23)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 09:59:44 AM EST
    if they predicted a Trump loss or win but they did say Trump was a Putin stooge. So at least they were right about that.

    Parent
    I don't know if Trump will still be (none / 0) (#25)
    by Anne on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 12:00:32 PM EST
     in the picture when the run for 2020 officially gets underway, but I do know that "his" agenda will likely be part and parcel of whichever Republicans decide to throw their hats into the ring - I don't see that being abandoned.

    So, it seems to me smarter and more effective to focus on policy than psychology, because whether Trump gets carried off in a straitjacket, or gets fitted for an orange jumpsuit, for the last year he has been slashing and burning anything and everything that represented progress, especially all-things-Obama - from regulations to the ACA, voter suppression, horrible judicial nominations, DACA, SCHIP.  He may not have managed to get all the major legislation he wanted, but he's managed to get quite a lot through the back door, so to speak, and these things are every bit as damaging and consequential as if they had been legislated (although, thankfully, easier to undo later).

    These are the things that are hurting the country and the people.  This is what we need to be fighting, not some orange-tinged marshmallow man with declining cognitive ability made worse by some form of mental illness.

    Yes, he's the apparent head of a mob-style crime family whose members and associates' limited intelligence hasn't gotten in the way of their ability to grift and grab.  I only care about that if its exposure helps remove them from public service - which is where I think Mueller will be of much use.

    But the reality is that with or without him, it's clear where the GOP is on all of this: foursquare behind and in support of the policy.  That's where the fight needs to go.

    Parent

    "Read books" (none / 0) (#32)
    by MKS on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 04:15:29 PM EST
    I had forgotten how Oprah has focused on authors to elevate their profile.  

    And she has gone pretty high brow.  She was able to land an extensive interview with Cormac McCarthy, who gave all of one interview (to the N.Y. Times) in close to 20 years. It was a very good interview....she had read his books.

    Parent

    This country is so far gone (none / 0) (#24)
    by jondee on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 10:18:02 AM EST
    I thought we were going to have to run Jesse Ventura against Trump to "shake things up."

    As far as the anything-for-ratings portion of the media that rode remora-like on Trump's rump goes though, Oprah might be better than Jesse.

    Parent

    It would take us back.. (none / 0) (#12)
    by jondee on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 08:10:18 AM EST
    back? We've been there for awhile now.

    Cali's gubernatorial election (none / 0) (#26)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 01:35:46 PM EST
    is only 11 months away...

    Maybe she can run for governor (none / 0) (#28)
    by thomas rogan on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 02:01:09 PM EST
    Let Oprah run a state for a few years to learn what it's like.

    Parent
    Oprah actually is from Milwaukee (none / 0) (#40)
    by Towanda on Wed Jan 10, 2018 at 03:28:06 PM EST
    Her mother is a neighbor of ours. We see Oprah at our Whole Foods. I taught one of her nephews (standatd semester starter of "tell us something about you" elicited the memorable response of "i like purple and my favorite aunt, Oprah"). She just was here a week or so ago for her half-sister's graduation from my campus. (As usual in her visits, she was very low-key to not take attention from other graduates and their families.)

    So it has been suggested that she run for governor of Wisconin in 2018. Our pathetic state Dems so far have come up with 18 candidates, none of whom looks likely to take on Perp Walker.

    And the state Dems could use Oprah to help Senator Tammy Baldwin on the ballot, too, who is being targeted by massive amounts of money from the 'ercers, the Kochs, and more. And it also might help the Dems running to twke down Paul Ryan.

    Parent

    Good lord. (none / 0) (#41)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Jan 10, 2018 at 05:07:28 PM EST
    Even in GA we have two serious women running for Governor and it's more of an uphill climb for a D to win here than in WI. I guess not enough people in WI either have the gumption or are sick enough of the crap to to run for govenor.

    Parent
    No, but (5.00 / 1) (#45)
    by Towanda on Wed Jan 10, 2018 at 10:02:52 PM EST
    as I have noted before, Wisconsin is awful for women.

    And for any Dem, the amount of money from outside the stste from and for Republicans is overwhelming. And Dems here never get help from the national party, because it still promulgates the myth that Wisconsin is soooo progressive.

    What Republicans have wrought in voter suppression here would take amounts of funding to fight that just does not come.

    There may be hope in the Wisconsin gerrymandering case before the Supreme Court now . . . . But with no word on when there might be a ruling, and in time for 2018 elections, why try?

    I can attest that is keeping potential candidates from committing, as I heard today from one courted by the state Dems to run. He happens to be one of my siblings, and he said exactly that: Without a favorable ruling on Gill v. Whitford from the Suprme Court, to redo our gerrymandered redistricting, why try?

    Parent

    Was remembering many years ago (5.00 / 1) (#46)
    by Militarytracy on Fri Jan 12, 2018 at 07:42:51 AM EST
    I used to work for a business in Wyoming that catered to out of state hunters. We used to have a lot of clients from Wisconsin. I was always told how progressive Wisconsin was, but the folks I was meeting were pretty despicably sexist.

    Parent
    Clearly WI (none / 0) (#47)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jan 12, 2018 at 09:50:56 AM EST
    Is going to be a 2018 bellwether.   Just saw an interview with Tammy.

    Parent
    Gavin Newsom (none / 0) (#31)
    by MKS on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 04:08:39 PM EST
    has the California Gubernatorial race close to being sewn up.

    Villaraigosa may make it a little interesting, but Gavin Newsom is looking really strong now.

    Oprah is based in Chicago....Aside from being in entertainment, her connection to California is not all that strong.

    But that you think winning the governorship of California in 2018 is a stepping stone to running for President in 2020 is interesting.  Bill Maher agrees, and has been touting Gavin Newsom.

    Parent

    IMO Newsom (none / 0) (#34)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 04:51:58 PM EST
    Is a very bright and gifted pol.  He is a great fit for CA.   I am not so sure he is a perfect fit for the rest of the country.   He might be.

    I absolutely think we have to nominate some one other than the walker brigade of Biden, Sanders, Warren etc.  And I have a real fear one of the many gifted younger democrats pols would lose to one of them in a primary.

    I believe Oprah would be mid 60s in 2020.  That would make her a spring chicken in terms of democracy politics.

    Parent

    As far as I know (none / 0) (#37)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 07:09:20 PM EST
    Warren is not going to consider running. Sanders is waiting for the bank fraud case to be resolved and once Biden started getting questioned about Anita Hill he seemed to disappear.

    I guess one of them could win a primary but it would be where the voters were so divided among other candidates that they could win with 30%.

    However mark my words whoever the nominee is they will be "under criminal investigation" during the general election.

    Parent

    I like Newsom (none / 0) (#38)
    by MKS on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 07:34:02 PM EST
    because when he was Mayor of San Francisco the cabbies at one point could not stop talking about him walking the picket line with hotel workers.

    He has a flair for the dramatic and can connect with a lot of people.  He is backed by the S.F. business community and was supposedly discovered and originally mentored by Ann Getty.  FWIW.

    He also can make really bad mistakes both personally and officially.   But the personal debacle was a long time ago and before he was married to his current spouse.  He did get ahead of himself on marriage equality and made a couple of strategic errors that annoyed the gay community.

    But he has talent and is made for t.v.

    Parent

    Maybe personal foibles such as having an affair (none / 0) (#43)
    by oculus on Wed Jan 10, 2018 at 06:25:21 PM EST
    with the wife someone close to you no longer matters?  

    Parent
    Newsom busted up someone else's marriage. (none / 0) (#48)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Sat Jan 13, 2018 at 04:49:28 PM EST
    MKS: "[Gavin Newsom] also can make really bad mistakes both personally and officially. But the personal debacle was a long time ago and before he was married to his current spouse."

    And that "someone else" so happened to be Newsom's best friend, deputy chief of staff and campaign manager, Alex Tourk - well, he WAS his best friend at the time, anyway. Now, not so much.

    I tend to not pay much if any attention to politicians' personal lives, unless and / or until whatever it is that they're doing has a direct and adverse impact on other people. Out of pure selfishness on his part and without any due regard to the harm he was causing his friend, Newsom ruined the guy's life.

    Yeah, I know that Newson apologized but honestly, he was likely only sorry because he got caught and was publicly confronted by Tourk at his own press conference. And that sort of personal failing turned public pratfall is not something which ought to be so casually dismissed.

    That said, I'm sure Gavin Newson will be a very decent governor if elected, as would Tony Villaraigosa, who similarly got caught with his pants down and ruined his own marriage a few years ago, rather than somebody else's.

    But I'll close here with one thought about both of them -- which is that neither one will ever be mistaken for the third coming of Gov. Jerry Brown, who raised the bar considerably on the office these past seven years, and who's going to be a very tough act for either man to have to follow.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    Oprah left Chicago several (none / 0) (#36)
    by caseyOR on Tue Jan 09, 2018 at 05:31:39 PM EST
    years ago. When her daily talk show ended she moved to California. Santa Barbara.

    Her cable network and her production company are based in California.

    Parent

    That's interesting. I live in Cali, (none / 0) (#39)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Jan 10, 2018 at 11:50:57 AM EST
    as I think you do as well.

    Working in the industry in LA and having business relationships with OWN here, and knowing the guy who lived next door to her for years in Montecito, I always thought of her as Cali-based.

    But you are right, I had forgotten that her talkshow was from Chicago for all those years.

    Parent

    I'm endorsing Oprah... (none / 0) (#42)
    by fishcamp on Wed Jan 10, 2018 at 06:00:55 PM EST
    This Oprah thing (none / 0) (#44)
    by MKS on Wed Jan 10, 2018 at 08:27:30 PM EST
    may actually have staying power....

    Parent