Casey Johnson | Correspondent
After her amazing speech at the 2018 Golden Globes on female empowerment in the film industry, many fans and viewers are urging talk show host, actress and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey to run for president in 2020. However, there are also those who oppose this sentiment.
The internet was flooded with articles and social media posts rejecting the notion that she could be a great president. Many are claiming that her lack of political experience and status as a celebrity known for a daytime TV talk show make her a bad candidate for presidency. She hasn’t even confirmed she intends to throw her hat in the ring, yet people are still trying to take her down. Here are a few examples:
Keith Smith, a Washington Post reader, wrote, “You don’t go from zero to 100 just because you are a celebrity. Work your way up. We are finished handing you the keys to the kingdom because you’re a bit famous. The vanity campaigns by the rich and famous have to end before they’re even allowed to start.”
An opinion columnist for USA TODAY, Ellis Cose, wrote, “If we seriously believe that being a watchable TV personality selling fantasies qualifies one for the presidency, we might as well prepare ourselves now for the Kardashian presidential dynasty.”
Here is why I think all of that is a bunch of nonsense:
I can’t help but feel that a large portion of this belief is grounded in good old-fashioned racism, misogyny or just the general opposition to seeing a woman of color in a position of power. If Donald Trump can become president, Oprah can too. We all know Trump gained fame on the TV show “The Apprentice,” but other men who had positions in the government, like Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and President Richard Nixon, were also actors before taking office.
The reason these celebrities win elections is because they use their already established platform to reach more people quickly. Politics is ultimately a popularity game. As we saw in the recent election, even the candidates with far more experience lost to the entertainment factor that Trump provided; media sources hopped on board the bandwagon to cover his latest Twitter beef while not taking his provocative statements and their ramifications seriously. If this is the way to win, Oprah might be the only one who can stand a chance against him.
Help us Oprah, you’re our only hope. The phrase “fight fire with fire” comes to mind. If someone with experience being a senator like Hillary Clinton can’t beat Trump in the polls, than maybe someone with the same celebrity status can.
I also resent the notion that one has to be a lifelong politician in order to be taken seriously. I don’t think we should discount someone who wants to hold an office because he or she didn’t run for student body president in high school thirty or so years ago.
The inherent drive to make the world a better place, something I would argue a lot of politicians nowadays don’t have, should be the first and foremost deciding factor.
For example, Angela Merkel, the current chancellor of Germany and de facto leader of the Free World, was a scientist who studied quantum chemistry before delving into politics and I would argue that we need more politicians like her, people who are willing to do humane acts like accepting a million refugees from Middle Eastern countries despite the expected backlash.
I want to know more about what Oprah would do if given an opportunity to make large scale changes before I write her off. I’m sure building a wall will not be high on her to do list.
“But we have already had the experience of a TV star running for (and becoming!) president. And his lack of political knowledge, work ethic and experience in anything remotely akin to governmental issues may bring us all down,” wrote Jess Vermont in the Washington Post.
To be fair, all of us are just a little traumatized from the first year of Trump’s presidency, and it is true that any good citizen should be skeptical of a potential government official. But I think we can at least trust Oprah to have the decorum to not do overtly racist things like calling African countries “shitholes.” Or, you know, threatening foreign powers with nuclear war over Twitter.
Of course, there other good candidates that have more political experience. But Trump could act as a catalyst that causes more politicians with good intentions to come out of the woodwork. Be skeptical, but don’t count the newcomers out just yet.
I can only imagine the satisfaction that would come when we see her run and win against Trump who said, “I’ll beat Oprah. I don’t think she’s going to run.”
Anyways, I officially endorse Oprah Winfrey as president with her running mate Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and look forward to her campaign.
