Friday, September 05, 2008

Oprah Winfrey wants Obama. Case closed.

Watch out. Hell hath no fury like a moose herd scorned -- with lipstick!

From NEWSDAY: Five reasons Gov. Sarah Palin should appear on Oprah:

Well, I suppose the big flap of the moment has to do with Oprah and Drudge; she claims some report he filed today is bogus, and even went so far as to issue a denial; it's no big deal, really, though DRUDGE (as usual) is pumping this for all it's worth. The post claim: that Oprah's staff is divided on whether she should have Sarah Palin as a guest, with Oprah insisting that she shouldn't come on.

O went so far as to issue a denial, and she does that very very rarely - in fact, I can't even remember an instance when she has.

"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."

Now, let me just give you the benefit of my expertise on Oprah: There's no such thing as a "divided" staff out there in Chicago. She is the Queen. They are her subjects. There are no disputes with the Queen, and that is that.

But Oprah's also in the bag for Obama and has made no secret of that either; said she, for example of his recent speech, "What I saw with Barack Obama was something that was transcendent and I felt transformational for me as a human being and for this country. And I only pray in the deepest part of my being that America will rise to this moment. And I feel that what he was able to offer us as individual citizens and as a united country was something that we have never seen before. I really, I think it's the most powerful thing I've ever experienced."
Fine, now, here are five reasons why O should have Palin on:

1.) To talk about motherhood, her family and Bristol; if you're really hung up on politics, O, then this doesn't have to be a "political" debriefing at all, per se, but a larger look at even more important issues, which your show claims to care about.

2.) It'd get a huge number. Hell yeah! Perhaps one of the biggest numbers in "O" history. This is a mercenary business, O, in case you've forgotten.

3.) It'd get the show back to that sweet spot of "relevance" and "news-worthiness." Wonderful to have all 150-or-so Olympians on Monday's season premiere, but the Olympics are old news; Palin is fresh news.

4.) Of course, it's O's right to support Obama in whatever forum she chooses, but she's simply too transcendent - her word - a cultural figure to pretend she's lil' ol' objective and non-political Oprah on her show, and yet Obama's most important supporter in the WORLD when she's not on screen. That's a silly artifice, transparent to all. Why not get Palin on and say, "OK, lady, I happen to think this guy walks on water. Now you tell me why he doesn't, and let's go at this." That would be great TV, and far better than a dreary debate between Palin and Joe Biden.

5.) O helped secure at least a million addition votes for Obama but probably lost hundreds of thousands of McCain supporter-viewers - if not more - to her show in the process. Here's her chance to say to everyone, "I have a right to support whomever I choose, and now to prove to you just how open-minded I am, here's the gun-toting mama from Alaska on the show."

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