"Why Oprah Won't Help Obama" Time Magazine

Why Oprah Won't Help Obama
By MARK HALPERIN
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1687526,00.html?imw=Y

how anyone can trust Oprah on
politics. She helped the repukes
in the selling of the Iraq war by
having them on her show. She has
not admitted to nor apologized for
being complicit in the lies fed to
the American people. You would think
this was as important as the author she
promoted and then found out he lied.
She had him back on, tore him down, and
apologized to her viewers. I guess what
they read for pleasure is more important
and must be more carefully scrutinized than what
the government does....no big deal. :eyes:

anyone who watched the
Bill Moyers' special about
the selling of the war should
know this - if they were paying
attention.

Too many people are paying more attention to the latest escapades of Brittany, Lindsay, and Ms. Hilton to be "bothered" with the stark realities of losing their liberties...and the collapse of our nation as we would have liked it to be.

Whether he did the special?
Whether he had her on?
What?
Specify.
It was on PBS, Bill Moyers,
a special on the selling of
the Iraq War to the American
people. It showed Oprah as
a part of the media being used
to spread the lies. It showed
them talking the selling
points.

Here is one link: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/index-flash.html
Here is the link to the transcript: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/btw/transcript1.html?print

Here's Oprah.....
"BILL MOYERS: EVEN OPRAH GOT IN ON THE ACT, FEATURING IN OCTOBER 2002 NEW YORK TIMES REPORTER JUDITH MILLER.

JUDITH MILLER: (OPRAH 10/9/02) The US intelligence community believes that Saddam Hussein has deadly stocks of anthrax, of botulinum toxin, which is one of the most virulent poisons known to man.

BILL MOYERS: LIBERAL HAWK KENNETH POLLAK.

KENNETH POLLAK: And what we know for a fact from a number of defectors who've come out of Iraq over the years is that Saddam Hussein is absolutely determined to acquire nuclear weapons and is building them as fast as he can.

BILL MOYERS: AND THE RIGHT HAND MAN TO AHMED CHALABI.

OPRAH: And so do the Iraqi people want the American people to liberate them?

QUANBAR: Absolutely. In 1991 the Iraqi people were....

WOMAN: I hope it doesn't offend you...

BILL MOYERS: WHEN ONE GUEST DARED TO EXPRESS DOUBT OPRAH WOULD HAVE NONE OF IT

WOMAN: I just don't know what to believe with the media and..

OPRAH: Oh, we're not trying to propaganda-- show you propaganda. ..We're just showing you what is.

WOMAN: I understand that, I understand that.

OPRAH: OK, but Ok. You have a right to your opinion.

BILL MOYERS: CONTRARY OPINIONS WEREN'T VERY POPULAR IN WASHINGTON EITHER, AS AMBITIOUS DEMOCRATS EMBRACED THE NOW CONVENTIONAL BUT UNCONFIRMED WISDOM. "

Does that 'prove it' to you?

I'm going into HQ to make phone calls, inviting people to come to the Obama and Oprah rally On Dec. 9. I've already received c alls at home from people wanting to come. The thing is, alot of people have never heard Barack Obama speak. Once they do, believe me, they'll be very impressed. So it isn't just Oprah. He's a star, too. Some people will come to see Oprah, but they'll leave as Obama converts!

for actually helping a campaign!!!
:applause:
I hope things go well for Obama, I
just do not trust Oprah on political
matters.

Is Oparah part of that deal in Portsmouth?

I do not care
who you support.
If you actually work
at helping your candidate
instead of talking about it...
it's a good thing.

Edit to add: not today, Dec. 9
read the
whole post...
"Well, I'll be inviting people to see Obama and Oprah today...
I'm going into HQ to make phone calls, inviting people to come to the Obama and Oprah rally On Dec. 9."

We need fewer typists.

there is not a problem
meeting recruitment quotas
for the 101st Keyboard Brigade.
;)

to call in on. This is what this seems a junket for celebrity status. Are you expecting to get a "gift" that Oprah doles out to her followers? This IS NOT American Idol. This is serious business being President of this country. Being President after the absolute foul up turd we have had. And they reason Obama won't get the nomination is because he can't make it.

Oprah had Arnold "Gunnerager" on her program and supported him for CA governor. I have not watched her since. She has become a "elite" media sellout. Her political choices are questionable to me. Just because Obama is a black American is no reason to support him.

Obama is a globalist like Hillary and many of the other candidates for President.

I question why any Democrat would not declare like Dodd that they would fight for our Constitution and rights back. That includes Obama and Oprah.

We were promised these rights and freedoms in the 2006 election by candidates but not one bill was put forward to do so. I should have been the first order of business for Reid and Pelosi. The support and agenda was there only to slip away.

"Just because Obama is a black American is no reason to support him."

That is what many people think
is the reason Oprah supports Obama.
She has been a proponent of womens'
causes for many years and does not
support the woman running. Regardless
of her reasons, many think that race is
the reason.

She's said this on Larry King and in published reports. The problem is that most people are more interested in speculation and less interested in the facts.

She cited her reasons as change. She liked his last book and felt she wanted to support him.

I was stating what
I have heard in conversations.
You would be amazed at the number
of people around where I live that
think that way.
Racism is alive and well in Southeastern
North Carolina to say the least.
I live outside of a town that it is
the norm to see the rebel flag flying
in the yard. This, in a town that
has a larger 'in-town' population of
African American than it does of whites.

OBAMA....

And in many cases it will be voters who may be attending their first political rally.

Give me a break.

Although it will be up to Obama to close the deal with the voters.....in my opinion it is a mistake to think that Oprah will not have an impact.

she will bring voters
and non-voters out. They
key to remember here is..
many will be going just to
see Oprah and will not vote.
Many will vote but, many will
not.

Obama will appear to be just her newest product endorsement, or worse - a minor Ed Mcmahon to her Johnny Carson.
Why would anyone allow some media superstar to select our next President?

eyes or hear with their own ears.

Opahrabama! New! Improved! Price reduced for the holidays!

It sounds like some of you are absolutely jealous! I guess your candidate couldn't get a celebrity, huh?

1. Oprah is not McMahon nor Carson.
2. She has very high ratings in the Iowa markets.
3. She will have an impact for sure, it may not be now, and it may not be this election, but by damn she will have an impact.....and it will be for the better....mark my word.

wish.

Oprah will have a huge impact for him with that crowd. Many, if not most, of them won't vote in the primaries, but the net effect of her endorsement and joint appearances will be enormously positive.

As for Halperin's other half-baked point about more substantive campaigning, Obama does town meetings and stump speeches every day. Two days of high-wattage celebrity campaigning won't take away from those efforts.

she is going to make a huge percentage difference in his campaign. He is the only one that can do that. She will however bring some energy to his campaign, will probably make some women or others more enthusiastic about him and maybe get some others to take another look at what he has to offer.

What he has to offer is key and that is change, something Hillary does not have to offer us. She is going to be the same old thing out of Washington and a lot of people are turned off anyway by another Clinton or Bush. Can you imagine 16 years of these two families a lot of people are thinking. Let alone the fact that she intends to extend the war like Bush, has even given him authority again on Iran, has support from those like Murdoch who wants support to even extend his power in newspapers and TV.

Obama has a good shot but he is the one who will have to do it and I think he can.

...you have to admit that the Clintons are the best campaigners ever. They have many, many celebrity friends. If having celebrites out there campaigning for them helped, it would be happening.

Voting for Obama because of Oprah is the same kind of thinking that got people voting for Bush because they thought they'd like to have a beer with him. It's mentally lazy. Unfortunately there are a lot of lazy people in this country.

First off, Mark Halperin is a right-wing coddling asshole who has pretty much bought into the right's phony ideology of America wholesale.
He spends all of his time on the game behind the reality. It's antisceptic and fun. And if that's all you see, for assholes.
Healthcare isn't important to such poliwonks, only the political machinations behind it. People die without healthcare, Mark.
I don't mind people who operate at that level, hell, I do. But only if I feel they care about what's behind it.
I never get that feeling from Halperin. Just that standard rightwing-promoting media attitude that has hurt this country so badly.

Anyway, I just wanted to get that in. Halperin is occasionally right, but it's hit or miss, nothing I'd count on. Pretty typical beltway 'insight'. With this Oprah thing, who knows. It's a new type thing.

My guess is that Oprah isn't going to do herself any good, especially if she starts getting questions. She's fine as an interviewer, between her audience and her guests, but whenever I've seen her put on the spot she is immediately frazzled and looking like she wants to get out of there fast. She's not one for confrontation and that's what politics is. I think she probably should have stayed out of the fray, maybe done something from the sidelines.

I further think she picked the wrong candidate, and not just because I'm for Hillary. What happens when Hillary is the nominee after this? Won't that be awkward for her. She and Hillary will make nice but think about it - Oprah will be the most high-profile celebrity person who tried to stop the first woman from being elected President. How is that good for her? She should have been on the side that most of her audience is probably on: hoping for Hillary. For empowered women. I think just Oprah's choice alone, given her audience and what she stands for, shows she's a political dingbat.

I don't think it will help Obama because for every woman who presumably shifts their vote to Obama based on, to whatever degree, Oprah converts them, there will be some guy someplace that doesn't like some Oprah guy for President. And yes it is a little Hollywood, which is sadly a bad thing. And yes it looks like Obama needs Oprah to take on Hillary. And yes there is a little racial tinge to why Oprah would go against the first truly viable female President, which will probably work against Obama.

I think Obama will be lucky to come out of this little celebrity dance even. And while it may prove positive and give him some boost, I think it's more likely to mark his inflection point down. I don't think there's much upside for the possibility that this could be the shark jump.

Who knows though. It will be interesting to watch. Maybe it will work and every candidate will have a celebrity helper in the future. Chris Dodd and Tom Cruise. John Edwards and Barbara Walters. Dennis Kucinich and Pamela Anderson. Bill Richardson and Conan O'Brian. Joe Biden and ...

She's on the left and that's enough for me...

That being said you have to be silly to vote for someone because a celebrity told you so...

Shaquille O'Neal and Muhammad Ali are my favorite athletes of all time... I have met Shaq's dad and my mom has met Muhammad Ali... I have autographed pictures of both but I would never ask them whom to vote for...

caught her "My Favorite Things" show. She was giving stuff like panini makers and board games to a bunch of people in Macon, Georgia, and they were jumping up and down and squealing like she was giving them each a million dollars. Her audience loves her, and I honestly think she has the ability to influence them. Obama will get additional "Oprah" votes. How many no will ever probably know. Whether this will be counterbalanced by anti-Oprah votes for somebody else is also an unknown. But to flatly state that Oprah won't help Obama is just Halperin blowing smoke out his ass.

There are a lot of people who don't watch, or like Oprah. I'm definitely not going to let a talk show host pick my president, and I'm sure there are a lot of people who feel the way I do. I think if people have made up their minds already, and it's not Obama for them, she will not be ale to change their minds. They'll probably be able to add some voters, but not a flood or anything...

are unique and personal to each voter. All I know is that Oprah works magic on her audiences. I don't underestimate her ability to sway them.

Oprah has always been an aggressive supporter of women and women's rights. Ask anyone who has watched her shows over the years.

So instead of supporting the first woman to run for the Presidency, she turns to a male candidate for that office.

Why? The answer is obvious and I am sure it will be asked by both women and men all over the land as Oprah does her dance for Obama.

Many people feel that she is only endorsing him because he is black. Are they wrong?

before making accusations that are so inaccurate.

Why didn't she endorse Al Sharpton, Jessie Jackson or Carol Mosely Braun?

Unfortunately that's the way many people make up their minds.

I will support Obama if my candidate of choice doesn't come through.

just voting for a candidate because she gives him her stamp of approval is vapid and idiotic. Personally, I could care less who she and other celebrities endorse. I will vote for the candidate who I believe represents my beliefs and who I think will do the best job in running this country.

Like someone else mentioned, this is NOT American Idol!!!

It's been several days since she started pushing her newest product.
Is it selling any better than it had been?

both are telling the black community that they should be voting for Obama for no other reason than they share the same color skin.Whereas HRC is not seeking the nomination because she is a woman.

Remember a week or so ago, Mrs Obama made this comment: “First of all, I think that thats not going to hold. Im completely confident: black America will wake up, and get it. But what we’re dealing with in the black community is just the natural fear of possibility....."

One thing can be said about Mrs Obama,she has already begun laying the foundation of blame when Obama loses the Democratic nomination.One might ask just who is Mrs Obama laying the early blame on? Black people.Mrs Obama thinks that if her hubby doesnt win, its because black folk dont have enough self-esteem:"black America will wake up, and get it. But what were dealing with in the black community is just the natural fear of possibility....."


Now imagine that the white wife of a white senator blamed their campaign woes on the low self esteem of the black community…

Ben David

She's not supporting him just because he's black and he hasn't campaigned on that either. I thinkk many are making assumptions that are not valid.