I feel crazy for saying this, but leave Oprah alone

Several blogs have reported that Oprah may be suffering backlash from viewers for refusing to book Sarah Palin on her show. Some point to the fact that Barack Obama has appeared on the show before, and given Palin’s current popularity, she ought to give time to Palin as well. Oprah’s response:

“The item in today’s Drudge Report is categorically untrue. There has been absolutely no discussion about having Sarah Palin on my show. At the beginning of this Presidential campaign when I decided that I was going to take my first public stance in support of a candidate, I made the decision not to use my show as a platform for any of the candidates. I agree that Sarah Palin would be a fantastic interview, and I would love to have her on after the campaign is over.”

So what about Barack Obama’s appearance on the show? Well, he appeared on the show on January 19, 2005 and October 18, 2006 (see IMDB). We all knew he was planning on running for President back then, but no one could be sure that he would get the nomination.

If she’d had Obama on the show at any time during the current election season, then sure, it would be hypocritical to bar Palin from the show now, but that is not the case. In fact, according to IMDB, Oprah has never had any of the recent Democrat Presidential or Vice-Presidential candidates on the show except for Barack Obama. No mention of “Oprah” on the appearance lists for Al Gore, Joe Lieberman, John Kerry, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden.

I certainly don’t like it when celebrities try to use their star power to get their candidate elected, but Oprah is being consistent, so I say drop it. And speaking of using celebrities for campaign purposes… what in the hell are we doing using Jon “September Dawn-Transformers-Anaconda” Voight at the RNC?? Do we really have no one better to use than Jon Voight? Geez.

Comments

I feel crazy for saying this, but leave Oprah alone — 1 Comment

ncarnes on September 5, 2008 at 12:25 PM said:

I like to see that you are supporting McCain/Palin…I kind of agree with you, but I also disagree with you. Part of Oprah’s ploy was to get Obama here, thinking it would be inevitable for him to beat any of the Republicans, now that the Republicans are surging ahead and are energized, she wants to be partisan. However, I agree with Rush Limbaugh from today, I don’t want Palin to become a “Celebrity” like Obama, because that makes her like Obama, and McCain’s ads have been perfect for his highness. I like to say, if he was the Messaih, she crucified him Wednesday night (Of course in a political sense).

I do however think this will hurt Oprah, and I don’t necessarily think people should leave her alone. She is clearly making a partisan decision and I think she will see repercussion especially from Conservative women. Oprah would not have to even talk politics with her, but question her about her life, since she is relatively “unknown” to the nation, but she will not do that because she would not come across like a “liberal” woman, but as your average, everyday woman, the type who watch Oprah. She already had rating set backs when she endorsed Obama, I think she will see that again.

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