The "O" Team: Oprah as Obama's V.P.
OOOOOHHHHHHH! THAT ORGASMIC CRY COMES FROM THE CHOIR OF 'O' SUPPORTERS -- the messianics who pray at the altars of Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey. Because the unimaginable can now be imagined: Might the Senator from Illinois choose the Saint from Chicago to be his running mate?
Yes, now is the time for every right-thinking Oprah fan to stand up and demand payback for her support: Hillary be damned! The V.P. slot belongs to Oprah!
Already Oprah's fans have called out to Obama to make her his Secretary of State or his Secretary of Treasurer on the web's best outpost for blather, The Huffington Post. And we know we can find at least one supporter of the idea of her as V.P.: Kansas school teacher Patrick Crowe started a "draft Oprah for president" campaign two years ago only to be served with cease and desist papers by Oprah's lawyers.
But that was two years ago, and we presume that what with her talk show, radio show, African school, magazine, future network and -- albeit -- failed prime-time reality show, the presidency might have been too much for even Oprah to chew, no disrespect implied about her weight.
But the vice-presidency largely bestows a symbolic post on its holder, although according to Wikipedia the title has frequently been used to "launch" presidential bids. We imagine this a way for Oprah to skirt voters' desire for years of public service to constituents, although she can point out that the people vote for her every single day when they watch her show or shell out $5 for her magazine.
And Oprah's got to be on the inside track: her second-best bud, Maria Shriver, is cousin to Caroline Kennedy, who is already on Obama's A-team for selecting a running partner. The VP slot would be a natural way for the Senator to thank Oprah who expects payback for her support, widely seen as cutting into her daytime ratings. The divine and eternal Ms. O already has sent a reminder to Obama about who he needs to fall to his knees for.
While tongues wag that it's taking too long for "it's all about me" Hillary to bow out, Oprah released a statement advancing her newest trademarked project, the "Happy Dance."® (Uh-oh, Ellen, I smell co-opting going on! She'll do anything for ratings!)
Tireless (self) promoter that she is, Oprah says she's willing to go "door to door" for Obama in the fall, a twofer which will also allow her to help stem her ratings slide. And Michelle says it's okay as long as Oprah is on a different tour bus: With his tall and lanky self, Obama looks like a Stedman surrogate. And if the National Enquirer is to be believed, the two women are already fighting over who really is Barack's "first lady."
Posted June 6, 2008
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