Robert Novak looks at “Women Versus Oprah“:
The absence of Oprah Winfrey from the frantic four last days of the New Hampshire primary campaign after her heavy schedule in Iowa backing Sen. Barack Obama may be traced to heavy, unaccustomed post-Iowa abuse of the popular entertainment superstar by women.
Winfrey did not publicize it, but her Website was swamped with complaints after she went to Iowa. The principal complaint was that she betrayed women by not supporting Sen. Hillary Clinton. The criticism was described as personal.
Several of these critics identified themselves as African-Americans, indicating that gender is more important than race for many people.
Not surprising, given their employer, the hosts of NBC’s Tonight Show have had political views that have uniformly fallen somewhere on the left, from Steve Allen to Jack Paar to Johnny Carson to Jay Leno. But as I mentioned to Tammy Bruce when she appeared on PJM Political last month to discuss Oprah’s endorsement of Obama, I don’t recall reading that any of them deigned to officially endorse a presidential candidate. By injecting herself into the presidential race, Oprah knew she’d alienate at least half her audience–and doesn’t seem to mind.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member