Well, better late then never I suppose. It sounds like Oprah Winfrey decided to stop licking Obama’s shoes and will hold an interview with former Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. According to reports Palin will appear on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” on Nov. 16th.
Sarah Palin
To be fair to Oprah, Palin’s book “Going Rouge” is due to be released on Nov 17th, so this is obviously a publicity stunt designed to get more book sales (although it’s already #1). Also, having one of the hottest authors (no pun intended) on her show can’t hurt Oprah’s ratings at all.
As many of you may remember Oprah received a bit of criticism during the Presidential election, some accusing her of choosing race over gender based on her decision to have Obama on her show and never even inviting Palin to appear. To be fair, I don’t think it was a matter of choosing race over gender, it was choosing liberalism over conservatism. Clearly Obama fits much closer to Oprah’s world view and political view, so she wanted to make sure she endorsed and gave exposure to the candidate she favored. It’s her show so she’s free to do so.
However, her choice to play politics has had consequences for her show. In fact her year over year ratings have dropped significantly this year and one week in July experienced her lowest ratings since the show first started in 1985. Some speculate, including Dr. Janice Peck (a media professor at Colorado) that Oprah alienated much of her viewing audience. Her core audience is white, female, and middle-class. Peck think’s Oprah’s campaigning for Obama, and her refusal to interview Palin has had a large effect. Actually, this is something I can attest to. My wife is kind of your average Oprah viewer, a show she watched pretty regularly. However, she is also a Republican and has been quite annoyed with Oprah’s behavior during the election and pretty much quit watching her show. So, I think that Oprah’s decision to get involved in politics probably did hurt her show. On the other hand, she’s rich, so what does she care. This is something that I think all celebrities should realize though, I don’t want to know your politics, just sing, act or play sports. I used to love Bruce Springsteen but his flaming liberalism has annoyed me so much over the years that I just can’t even stand him now. Just shut up and do your job.
I don’t know about the future of Oprah’s show, but I’m guessing Nov. 16th gets her highest ratings of the year.
Photo Source: Bruce Tuten
October 20th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
palin power !
October 20th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Ugh, I’ll say it again — if you GOPers want any hope of attracting independents, drop Palin like a bad habit.
If not, that’s cool with me, I couldn’t care less about either party. Go ahead and lose all the elections you want.
October 20th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
While I like(d) Palin because I think she represents something that is authentic and real which is missing from politics (also I have 3 daughters and would love to see a great conservative role model) I fear Palin’s political career is probably not going anywhere any time soon. She is polling behind Huckabee (Huckabee!!!!) for crying out loud. Her resignation as governor was just baffling to me if she had any further ambitions.
Among the base she is a rock-star, in fact, I don’t think there is a single politician that could probably out-draw her at an event right now, even Obama. With that said she is death to the independent vote I fear. Looking at the situation as a realist and as someone who wants to win elections, Palin is not the option. It actually pains me to say that because I really do like her.
October 20th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Oprah is a racist pig.
October 20th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Yeah good analysis Bryan. Like you said, with the base she is a rock star. Just like Rush. Who, as we all know, would have a snowball’s chance in hell of competing in a general election.
October 20th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Just curious Rhayader…..who would you think would be a good presidential candidate?
October 20th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
That’s a good question Hondo. I know who I’d like to see — Gary Johnson/Ron Paul would be the ticket to end all tickets — but I know choices like that would have pragmatic issues at least as thorny as you would see with Palin. So yeah, I’m really not sure if there’s anyone in the upper echelons of the party right now who would really have much of a chance in 2012 (assuming no major losses for Obama during his first term).
Hate to rain on your parade, but that’s how I see it. Of course I’m about as far from a politics junkie as you can get, so what do I know.
October 20th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Bryan, can’t argue with your logic at all. I think Palin is a candidate who might shore up the ticket for the base without completely killing the party’s chances in the general election, but would not stand a chance as the main candidate on the ticket.
October 20th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Well, fair enough Rhayader. 2010 should provide some indication of Obama’s standing with the peeps. The sad part is the fact that the republican’s are just as bad as the dems. I’m not a rep., dem, libertarian or anything else. Just a patriot.
October 20th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Why should you be free to express your politics if you think others — especially those with a much bigger platform — should “shut up and do their jobs”? It takes a lot of courage to speak up to a television or worldwide audience, one that includes those exemplified by you and your wife. Bruce and Oprah were willing to take the “consequences” — a very steep price. Obviously, they believe in what they are saying. You want others to listen to you and to Palin. Why not the other side? How about a little more respect — for Oprah and Bruce AND the American way!
October 20th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
It’s just like anything else — competition breeds excellence. The two party system is slowly strangling our political system just like lack of competition does to any business industry.
I think there are more people who feel like nobody represents them than there are people truly faithful to a party line.
October 20th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
re 11: As the electrate becomes more educated, they tend to become less satisfed with choosing to belong to either party, and waits until an election before it chooses candidates. That explains why, in states with a higher education, voters are more apt to vote across party lines, and also tells us why the share of independents, when polling is smoothed, grows genereally from year to year.
October 20th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
I hope Oprah isn’t doing this just for ratings. I really respected that she wouldn’t bring on Palin OR Obama during the election, and if her ratings dropped, well….that’s the cost of doing what you believe it. And as the author notes, she doesn’t need the money.
Oprah don’t be afraid to ask her tough questions! Sure, some may blame you for “left wing bias” but if Palin’s as tough as she wants to appear, she needs to learn to take it.
October 20th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
Does oprah need ratings? It doesnt seem like anyone even tries to compete with her, and she has more money than God. I wouldnt expect her to ask stupid questions, like name your favorite newspaper. I would think it’s more interesting to have palin try to explain her appeal, since she’s so popular.
October 21st, 2009 at 6:31 am
Obviously Palin has something going for her or she would not have been elected Governor of Alaska. However I really think the biggest thing she has going for her is looks. I’m not a sexist, but she is hot looking and a lot of people like that. I think, and I mean this truthfully, had she looked fat and ugly, no one would have given her notice. Sad fact on the status of popular people, but by-and-large the truth.
October 21st, 2009 at 9:08 am
I like Palin, she appears to, at least, be honest. It will be up to her, however, to prove that she would make a good president. The biggest thing going for her is the fact that the standard by which a president is judged has recently been lowered so far so as to make Olive Oyl a viable candidate.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:51 am
[...] think she’ll quit halfway through the interview? — Nitajk Going on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” is “obviously a publicity stunt” to boost book sales, said Right Pundits blogger Bryan McAffee. While, as TPM LiveWire’s Ben Frumin [...]
October 21st, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Olive Oyl for President!!! I think a light bulb just went on. That would be a definite step in the right direction! At least with this president, we have no where to go but up.
October 21st, 2009 at 9:14 pm
I like Palin, but I’m still not sure about the title for her book. Couldn’t she come up with something better?