Based on my social media feeds this morning, the field of Democratic candidates for President has been cleared–Oprah Winfrey is clearly the people’s choice for 2020. I have to admit, I have not seen Oprah’s “stirring” speech at the Golden Globes last night. One of the issues with coming to work at 3:00 am every day is that you don’t watch a lot of TV at night. And what’s more, I could not care less about Hollywood awards shows or celebrity gossip.
But without even seeing or hearing what Oprah had to say I’m 100-percent sure it was about oppressed people rising up, fighting for the truth to be heard, and believe in yourself. I know that because that is what every Oprah public speech is about. And in these “dark times”, many liberals want that to be the message of their candidate in three years. So that is why #Oprah2020 was trending on Twitter last night.
Well, I can flat out guarantee that Oprah Winfrey is NOT going to run for President–no matter how much the coastal elites and her celebrity pals tweet about it. For starters, Oprah likes making money. This is a woman that has created a multi-media empire–with her own TV network, magazine, movie and TV production companies. She owns Weight Watchers now and has her own line of “healthy meals”–starring in the commercials for them. (Her claims that mashed cauliflower is “just as delicious” as real mashed potatoes shows that she could certainly lie like a real politician). So why would she want to divest herself of all that? One need only look at the difficulty the current Celebrity President is having in separating his businesses from what is now the country’s business.
Plus, Oprah has total control and power over everything in her life. Here is my favorite Oprah story. On the island of Maui, residents for decades have wanted a road connecting the Piilani Highway (known at the “Back Road to Hana”) with the resort area of Kihei on the southwest part of the island. The current drive takes over an hour because the highway heads into the center of Maui before doubling back to the coast. As you can imagine, that wastes a lot of time and gas for the locals. Oprah owns a ranch and a very swanky bed and breakfast in Upcountry Maui and likely enjoys shopping at Kihei or spending some time on the beach down there–but she doesn’t have time to do all of that driving (or being driven more likely) so Oprah paid to build the highway that the locals have wanted for so long–cutting the driving time down to just a couple of minutes.
The only thing is, the highway is open only to Oprah. There are signs at both ends of the road (which I have seen in person) stating that anyone caught using Oprah’s road will be prosecuted. From what I have read, some locals (and brave tourists) have snuck onto Oprah’s private highway–and I’m not sure if they have been caught or fined. But I’m guessing that someone that can build her own highway wherever she wants it–and then can limit public access to it–would not take too kindly to a Republican Congress blocking any of her initiatives in the White House.
Besides, we don’t want future political scientists and historians to include in their textbooks “Appalled by the Republican’s electing an unqualified, celebrity President, Democrats countered in the next election cycle with their own unqualified, celebrity for President.
