OPINION:
Praising the same press that President Trump deplores, Oprah Winfrey, the darling of much of America, looked and sounded Sunday night like President Trump’s Democratic opponent in the 2020 general election.
Seeming to belittle Mr. Trump without ever uttering his name, Oprah shone like the pearl of popular culture that she is and has long been. She radiated an almost queenly presence in her studious yet fashionable thick-rimmed glasses. She alternately smiled mid-morning sunshine and frowned serious detention-period lecture-time in delivering a political speech designed to send an exciting jolt of electricity up the leg of every liberal in America.
The occasion was “Golden Globes Awards,” the glitzy annual Hollywood mutual love fest of film and TV actors, producers, directors, costume designers, musical-score composers and set designers at the Beverly Hilton.
Her campaign manager/communications director-to-be Reece Witherspoon all but hung bunting in the hotel ballroom in introducing Oprah.
“When you say her name, everyone stops and listens,” the Academy Award-winning actress. “Oprah’s hugs could end wars, solve world peace.”
Hint, hint.
The assembled entertainment-industry Oprah adulators traded places with the Washington press corps as this nation’s premier Republican-disdaining, Trump-hating leftists. The entertainment industry won first place Sunday night as millions of Americans watched the 63-year-old actress, producer, talk-show host, philanthropist and owner of the Oprah Winfrey Network accept the Cecil B. DeMille Award. The 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association chose her for the annual award this year, giving her a full year to prepare for her 2019 run for the Democratic nomination — assuming a Democrat is foolish enough to challenge her.
Speculation abounded long before Sunday night that Oprah might be the Democrats’ best bet, if that was her desire, to give Mr. Trump a trouncing in the 2020 presidential elections — if he chose to seek a second term.
Even if he didn’t, the Grand Party of the American Left wouldn’t need a special-counsel investigation to learn how much it would a benefit from having a charming, worldly, sophisticated, traveled, extremely successful, super-smart black woman as its standard bearer.
In presence, looks and likability, she is the antithesis of Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren.
The first black female billionaire in history, Oprah has a net worth of $2.4 billion, according to Bloomberg. No matter, Hollywood and the Soros-billionaire left would make her the best-financed candidate in history.
She pitched her campaign-to-be to the constituency that may matter most in 2020 but didn’t in 2016.
“We also know that it is the insatiable dedication to uncovering the absolute truth that keeps us from turning a blind eye to corruption and to injustice — to tyrants and victims and secrets and lies,” she said to the lords and ladies of the Fourth Estate everywhere.
“I want to say that I value the press more than ever before, as we try to navigate these complicated times,” she added. “Which brings me to this: What I know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have.”
Such oral love in front of so many people would make the recipients a bit uncomfortable, you would think. Not from this particular woman on this particular Sunday, apparently.
Oprah has a 49 percent approval rating in the latest poll by a Democratic firm, and only 33 negative rating nationally.
An amalgam of recent polls give Mr. Trump a 55 percent approval; and 39 percent disapproval by the public.
We all know what great predictors polls are. Mr. Trump had a 61 percent unfavorable score in Gallup’s November 2016 poll just before the election. That was the worst in presidential polling history. Hillary Clinton came in with a 52 percent unfavorable score — the second-worst in presidential polling history.
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