December 18, 2007
Vote or Die. Choose or Lose.
That was Sean “Diddy” Combs attempt at changing the face of American politics in 2004 by encouraging young adults under 30 to vote.
He had some success with the record-breaking 21 million young adults who voted in the 2004 presidential election.
But this is 2008, and now it’s Oprah Winfrey’s turn. No, she won’t be printing obnoxious logos onto Tommy Hilfiger T-shirts sponsored by MTV; she’s doing her own thing. She’s supporting Barack Obama.
Recently, she attended rallies in Sen. Obama’s home state of Illinois as well as South Carolina and New Hampshire. Preaching her support for Obama, she sees him as having a new vision for America.
“These are dangerous times; you can feel it. We need a leader who shows us how to hope again in America as a force for peace. … He's a man who knows who we are and knows who we can be,” she said, according to CNN.com.
Who are we? Well, Obama knows, but for everyone else who doesn’t, we are a democracy, in which the people have the say over who we want to run our country.
This is true for the most part until Oprah utters anything beginning with the words “I support.”
Really, she could have said something supporting gun control, and the next day the homicide rate would drop to negative one. That’s just about the scale of power she has in this country.
Don’t get me wrong; Oprah has used her fortune for good. She opened a school in Africa for young girls in need and gave away 276 Pontiacs to her studio audience in 2004.
Slowly, though, her influence is expanding to a broader political arena. Oprah is targeting women over 40 who tend to support Hillary Clinton’s campaign. She wants them wearing Obama buttons.
Although she is just showing her support for Obama like any other rallier, Oprah is having a substantial effect.
Already, polls in favor of Obama have increased in the states where Oprah has visited.
“I am not here to tell you what to think. I am here to ask you to think, seriously," Oprah said, according to Foxnews.com.
But it may very well be the other way around.
I have no doubt that she has good reasons for supporting Obama, I’m sure the majority of swayed voters drooled (literally) at the fact the Oprah Winfrey was in their hometown. If you handed them a pencil and ballot right then and there, their X marks would have been O’s.
I doubt she’ll go as far as to make “Obama or Die” shirts; Oprah is more about the peace. But I do worry that her opinion will influence some of her nonpolitical and/or obsessive fans to vote for Obama simply because she told them to.
Our next president should be based on individual opinions, not just on one powerful person’s opinion.
