Oprah’s speech at the Golden Globes was the unchallenged highlight of the evening. There she was, an icon who was saying the words that had to be said, in a tone that resonated with strength, not rancor, and at a time when we most needed to hear them.
But President?
To hear once again a well-spoken, knowledgeable orator who told the unvarnished truth without rubbing us raw, was like drawing in a breath of fresh air and having it fill our deflated selves. Such an intelligent, on-point speech was reminiscent of President Barack Obama, who not only made sense, but made us think.
Some could say that we are just hungering for an articulate person to state things in a dignified manner. I often read comments that lament the loss of a president who was thoughtful, intelligent, and articulate—and Oprah, true to her character, was certainly all of those things at the Golden Globe Awards.
But President?
Perhaps we’re drawing parallels between the two that lead to the conclusion that if anyone can do the job, it’s the woman who did as much as anyone to put Obama in office.
Oprah Winfrey bridged the divide between black and white, rich and poor, classy and trashy in this country for more than 25 years. She embodied the sentiment of Rudyard Kipling’s formula for success, foremost among them:
“If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch...”
From residents of the ghettos to residents of the White House, Oprah connected with all on a humanitarian level. More than that, she dispelled a lot of racist and misogynistic misconceptions:
“See, I’m black, but I’m not: 1) a welfare mom; 2) a crackhead; 3) a ho’.”
“See, I’m a woman, but that hasn’t stopped me from achieving every goal I’ve set out to achieve.”
“See, I’m welcomed everywhere and not discriminated against because of the color of my skin.”
With both the implied and spoken tag line....”And you can be, too!”
But President?
“I’m Every Woman,” her theme song for years, induced women of every color and nationality to consider that, inside, we are in fact the same. Our skin color is different, but we harbor many of the same goals, dreams, challenges, disappointments, and the desire to better our lives. Oprah blurred the lines in the coloring book, so that we all bled out onto the same page, making a much more interesting and beautiful picture.
I have stated my belief to whomever would listen to me that, without her helping us to see that blurred lines can result in a more beautiful picture, Barack Obama would not have been elected president.
She saw his potential, and cultivated it. She announced on her show, with an enthusiasm we got caught up in, that she was supporting him for President of the United States. She had been laying down groundwork for the acceptance of people of color in powerful positions, with her being the most worthy of not only our acceptance, but admiration.
So when she pushed Barack Obama’s face into our TV rooms, in living color, and said, “This man!” we believed in him also. She had convinced us over many years that anything was possible, so why couldn’t a black man be president?
We trusted her. We knew she was smart. We knew she overcame adversity and used steely will and determination to build and empire. We admired that she had a glamorous life, but was enormously philanthropic. And she accomplished all of this wearing black skin and having breasts. Oprah shut down our excuses for, “I can’t.”
And that’s what she did again at the Golden Globes. The worldwide reaction to her speech underscores how much power, sway and admiration she still holds in the world. We’ve missed her, and we want to embrace her again.
But President?
Oprah also reminded us that graciousness, class and strength are what we are deserving of in a leader. She looked and sounded like a leader because she is a leader, but she also knows that there are other really smart and capable people who can advise her, as they’ve done in her rise to wealth, fame and power; and she’s not an egomaniac who would ignore that advice.
Does that mean she would make a great president? Let’s ask ourselves: Do we really want someone who is not political in the sense that she knows how to work the gears in D.C.? Do we trust that she could be as brilliant in running the government as she has been in building and running her empire?
Most of all, would she earn our respect as president, just as she earned it as a mogul?
There are some parallels between her and our current president (ouch, quit throwing stuff, hear me out!) Both are well-known public figures, famous for different reasons, but still famous. Both have absolutely no governing experience. Both are wealthy enough to live a leisurely life, so we have to wonder what would drive them to want the headaches that come with that office.
But President?
But it's the divergence between Trump and Oprah that goes to the core of their characters that makes her a much better choice for president: Oprah wants to unite us; Trump wants to divide us. If Oprah were to run for that office, it would be because she sees a need to bring the country back together, and all that that includes and implies. That’s what she’s done throughout most of her remarkable life. She used the power of her platform to transform the racial, sexual and even the political landscape. She helped empower millions of women from every walk of life, and she knows that those women--because of powerful, misogynistic male politicians--are on the brink of losing their empowerment. She knows we’re sinking back into the quicksand of racism, and we need someone to pull us out before we’re pulled down so far into that gritty vortex that we can’t be rescued.
If Oprah can work her special magic in bringing us together again, then she would be an ideal president, because that's what we need here, now, again, more than anything else in this country--unity, inclusion, and tolerance and respect for diversity. She may not have the political experience, but she has more people experience than possibly anyone on earth. And that’s what the governance of this country is meant to be: Governance of the people, by the people, for the people.
People want their welfare (a life in which they fare well) to be the central consideration of the government; and in that respect, Oprah’s looking mighty good as being the person to give them what they want.
But President? Maybe so.
