Oprah Endorses Obama: Has Winfrey Gone Too Far?
Celebrity endorsements are common place in today’s politics. Seems that any Presidential candidate worth anything has the full endorsement of some celebrity. Hillary has Streisand. Huckabee has Chuck Norris (you know, the Karate dude that also does that infommerical with Christie Brinkley on that personal sled thing?), and now Obama has Oprah. If this were a tennis match, the score would be “advantage Obama.”
God-like Influence
Like her or not, Oprah has public influence that few, if any, can rival. Streisand doesn’t compare and neither does Chuck Norris (although Chuck is much higher in the “cool” factor than Oprah). To call Oprah’s followers an army of “fanboys and girls” is an understatement. Oprah doesn’t have viewers, she has insanely obedient zombies. And here is where her presidential endorsement gets dangerous.
Obedient to Oprah
The Oprah zombie army doesn’t think for themselves. They read books as instructed by Oprah. They follow advice by Oprah’s guru of self-help, Dr. Phil. And they follow good health tips by Oprah’s latest pet project, Dr. Oz. Which, by the way, has helped launch his new book to the number one spot on the New York Times hardcover how-to book list.
Oprah wields an abnormal amount of power over an enormous amount of people. When Oprah says jump, her zombie army wants to know, “how high?” So, when Oprah throws her support behind Obama, a group of mindless puppets freely hand over their vote to Obama. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not “Obama bashing,” and, to a certain extent, am not “Oprah bashing” either. I’m pointing out the obvious — with much power comes much responsibility.
Encourage Involvement Without Giving an Endorsement?
Is it reckless to give such endorsement, or would it be better for Oprah to simply encourage all of her followers to get out their, get educated about the candidates, and make their vote count? Well, that approach would probably be better; however, it certainly won’t get the media coverage she is getting at the moment.
on December 12th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
If Oprah were to take the expression “with much power comes much responsibility” to heart then she would refrain from a personal endorsement and encourage her zombie army to become informed voters and make up their own mind. Unfortunately, where us “average joes” may only influence a few close friends or family to see our side of a political argument, Oprah has an audience of millions, which does seem to follow her every command. I’m not an Obama supporter, but you have to give the guy kudos for harnessing this following in Oprah. I just wonder what’s in it for Oprah if Obama does get elected. There’s no such thing as a favor with no-strings attached in politics.
on December 13th, 2007 at 9:32 am
Good point and a potentially nice catch phrase — In politics, there’s no such thing as a favor with no-strings attached.
Perhaps Oprah is jockeying for a cabinet position.