This nice lady is Oprah. She is a billionairess. The ladies love her, and when she tells them what to purchase, they get it, and a lot of it. But the question of the day is, will they buy a Barack, the latest luxury item attached to the O brand?
CNN reports that Oprah and Obama are combining forces. This shouldn't be a huge surprise (she told the man she'd campaign for him on her show - I was watching - and in May announced her formal endorsement on Larry King). O is making her promise real this weekend by throwing the other O a fundraiser at her lovely California ranch that's expected to net between $2-3 million.
People with good sense struggle with Oprah. And I challenge anyone who would dismiss her outright. (Did you see her coverage in New Orleans just after Katrina?) But for every moment that Oprah uses her global brand to do good, there are 100 other disparaging, salacious remarks made at gay guests, hours spent selling people things they don't need and endless episodes reinforcing bizarre myths (Secret, swinging, S&M couples babysitting YOUR kids - next week's Oprah!) that aid the culture of fear plaguing America and driving the ugliest part of the culture wars.
But the thing that really gets me about Oprah - the brand - is that its construction has been consciously and comprehensively a-political. Everything in Oprah-land is about the
individual; their ability to triumph over adversity; their personal victimhood; their need for stainless steel appliances and meticulously arched eyebrows. This connection to people's personal stories is what has made Oprah - the woman - a star, an icon, a billionaire and the authority that the Obama camp wants to draw on to gain support, particularly among women.
But while Oprah is allowed to leave politics to the professionals, Obama does not have that luxury. My major criticism of his candidacy has not been his "lack of experience" but that he has substituted the "audacity of hope" or "fervor for courage" or whatever it is for a rigorous, attention-grabbing denunciation of the policies that have left people in this country hopeless and afraid. He gives me "every child should be healthy" when I want "the scandal of private health care that leaves 40+ million vulnerable is on its way out".
I am perfectly happy to know that Miss Sophia Winfrey, won't spend any time this camapaign season being kissed on by Republican democracy-killers,
but if the new campaign slogan is to be O + O for National Self-Help, I'm going to call Michelle Obama (cause she has good sense) and tell her just what I think.
