"I've seen firsthand how the average citizen responds to her. Men and women of all races connect to her. She's like Bruce Springsteen, Mother Teresa and Princess Di all rolled into one."
As George W. Bush entered the final year of his first term as president, having dragged America into two hopeless and never-ending wars, Democrats were desperate for an answer.
In his 2003 book Dude, Where's My Country? Moore dedicated several pages to explaining why talk show host and actress Oprah Winfrey would "win in a landslide" against Bush.
"Nothing else has worked! Why not try a new path?" Moore had begged. "Why not go with someone who really cares about people? Someone who tries to help the common woman or man have it a bit easier today in a world that is increasingly cruel, complicated and empty?"
Moore's fantasy candidate never took him up on the offer and the Democrats instead settled on the Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, a decorated war hero, who blew it and lost the election to Bush by 35 electoral college votes — which, before it was put in perspective by Hillary Clinton losing to Donald Trump, seemed like a pretty embarrassing defeat at the time.
Fast forward 15 years, and the American public finally seems ready to reconsider Moore's proposition. After all, a TV star has indeed ended up in the Oval Office. He's just the antithesis to Oprah.
At Sunday's Golden Globes ceremony, Oprah became the first black woman to receive the Cecil B. de Mille Award. The speech she gave, blessed with her trademark inspiration, heralded a new dawn for women emerging from the #MeToo movement, and encouraged everyone to speak their truth in pursuit of a better world. It was beautiful, it was vintage Oprah, and it was the beginning of the #Oprah2020 hashtag, which instantly began trending on Twitter.
Oprah Winfrey is an incredible woman. To describe her as merely "impressive" would be to shrug your shoulders at the Grand Canyon or the Pyramids. Oprah has been an inspiration to millions of people for decades, an untouchable and unimpeachable success in just about everything she has done, and almost everything she has done has been for the general goal of bettering society. She has endured and overcome unbelievable hardship through force of personality, kindness, brightness, charm and intelligence. All personal traits anyone would look for in any leader.
But politically, Oprah is an entirely unknown quantity. Does she believe in single-payer healthcare? Would she increase her own taxes, as well as the taxes of her wealthy friends and the companies she has long worked with? Hell, would she even run as a Democrat, or as an independent? How does she feel about the NSA's data gathering? How does Oprah conceptualise the future of Israel and Palestine? And the most awkward question facing any potential Commander-in-Chief... Would Oprah really authorise drone strikes? Drop MOABs on Syria? Sell arms to Saudi Arabia? Would she strike first in a nuclear stand-off with North Korea? How would she handle Putin? Nobody knows. Do we actually want to know?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN5HV79_8B8
By Tuesday morning, the idea of President Winfrey had gathered such momentum that the article "Should Oprah Run?" was the banner story of Politico Magazine, who had spoken to no fewer than 14 experts about it. The Atlantic ran a piece outlining the arguments for and against an Oprah tilt at the presidency. The Daily Show host Trevor Noah went on TV to break down why Oprah is the "perfect opponent" to face off against Donald Trump. Most importantly, Brian Stelter of CNN is reporting that Winfrey is "actively considering" the run, a promise reinforced by the comments of Oprah Winfrey's own life-partner, Steadman Graham.
Donald Trump has now been president for almost a year, and there is still no answer coming from within the Democratic Party. From the moment that Trump first put his feet up on the Resolute desk, the DNC should have been consolidating around a message, around a plan and around a candidate who could swiftly unseat the most unpopular president of all time at the nearest opportunity.
But because the party has offered nothing, its voters will latch on to anything.
Democrats are saying maybe to Mark Zuckerberg. They'll take Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, a registered Republican. There is even a subsection of Democrats who believe that Hillary Clinton, whose electoral career of the past decade comprises exclusively of losing the nomination to Barack Obama, then the election to Donald Trump, should try again. So Oprah Winfrey? Hell. Yes.
This issue doesn't go away if Oprah decides not to run. One of Hillary Clinton's major failings was her utter inability to inspire anything even resembling enthusiasm in even die-hard Dems. Oprah would bring the kind of charisma not seen in the Democratic party since Obama, before the pressures of the office turned him into a Just For Men "Before" photo. Will anybody want to hear from Elizabeth Warren or Kirsten Gillibrand now that they've heard from Oprah Winfrey? Will anybody believe in Joe Biden's charming-for-a-politician schtick when they're really pining for, arguably, the most beloved woman in America? Nobody compares to Oprah.
Establishment Democrats were weak enough in 2008 that a first-term Senator from Illinois left Hillary Clinton in the dust as he power-housed his way to eight years in office. They were weak enough in 2016 that a septuagenarian socialist pushed the establishment candidate all the way to the convention without a Super PAC in sight. They're weak enough in 2018 that Oprah can just publicly be Oprah for ten minutes and look more presidential than any Democrat has managed in the past 12 months.
As Oprah closed her awe-inspiring speech, it was readily apparent that the room full of Hollywood elites, actors, directors, all of them mega rich, would have followed her into the bloodiest battle. The effect was not confined to the room. Social media was alight with love for Oprah, and Michael Moore's prayer was finally being answered.
Listening to her, it's easy to imagine that Oprah Winfrey might just have a plan. Unfortunately, her immediate ascendancy proves that the Democratic Party does not.
