Eddie Scarry of the Washington Examiner explores the implications for the Democratic Party of the recent buzz surrounding Oprah Winfrey’s rousing Golden Globes speech.
News coverage hyping a potential Oprah Winfrey presidential campaign has revealed that many in the press don’t believe Democrats have any chance of winning the White House in 2020 without a celebrity like Winfrey or President Trump.
Reports on Winfrey’s widely discussed speech at Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards ceremony have speculated that the former queen of daytime TV may be positioning herself for a political campaign. Her longtime partner Stedman Graham stoked curiosity by telling the Los Angeles Times that it’s “up to the people” and that “she would absolutely do it.”
In response, news outlets were quick to note that Democrats lack a clear and substantial choice in their lineup, which includes people like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.; Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif.; and former Vice President Joe Biden.
“Indeed, the magical thinking fueling the idea of Oprah in 2020 is a worrisome sign about the state of the Democratic Party,” wrote New York Times Magazine contributor Thomas Chatterton Williams on Monday. “That Ms. Winfrey could probably beat those considered likely front-runners — Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Kirsten Gillibrand — is testament to how demoralized and devoid of fresh political talent the post-Obama party has become.”
