Oprah as Reaganite

Oprah Winfrey yesterday, campaigning in Iowa on behalf of Barack Obama: "Oprah said, “Experience in the hallways of government isn’t as important to me as experience on the pathway to life. I challenge you to see through those people who try to tell you that experience in politics as usual is more valuable than wisdom outside the walls of Washington, D.C.”

Interestingly, this is the same kind of argument Ronald Reagan and his supporters made in 1980. Reagan too was criticized for a lack of experience; he'd never held a national political office (he'd been governor of California for two terms). He too suggested that he would change politics-as-usual in Washington.

Running against Washington is not a new idea; it's been done many times.

The "O" factor for Obama

So we're reminded today that one of Barack Obama's biggest supporters is none other than Oprah Winfrey (via Drudge), and very soon she's to hold a huge star-studded fund-raiser for the Illinois senator at her Hollywood mansion. And don't think that Oprah isn't excited about her possible influence on the campaign. Quote: "My money isn't going to make any difference," Winfrey told her fellow chat-show host Larry King. "My value to him, my support of him is probably worth more than any other cheque that I could write."

Well, her book club has been influential in promoting books, and she's hawked other consumer items somewhat successfully. Can she really influence the way people (especially her core constituencies, women and blacks) vote? I wonder. Maybe.