Get ready for President Oprah! It’s a done deal. Or so you’d think cruising the news. 

Oprah Winfrey gave a speech Sunday night at the Golden Globes. (You can watch it here.) She was accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award. By the reaction, you’d think she was delivering The Ten Commandments. By the end, Hollywood’s elite was in tears, Meryl Streep was insisting Oprah “doesn’t have a choice” but to run for president, and NBC was tweeting Oprah’s picture with the caption “OUR future President.” 

By this afternoon, Hollywood stars were lining up faster than Harvey Weinstein accusers. Obama’s man in Iowa was telling the talk queen, “Call me.” And at CNN, Sally Kohn was spelling out why Oprah would make an “exceptional” president.

Kohn’s colleague Chris Cillizza gushed like teen blogger reviewing a Tayler Swift concert. “You could close your eyes and imagine that speech being given in Iowa, let’s say, right?,” he said, “Or as a campaign kickoff.” Like the bestest speech ever. 

Even Trump-loathing conservative pundit Bill Kristol was jumping on the #Oprah2020 train like a hobo in desperate need of getting out of town.

Yep. Hillary’s history. The Trump Russia Collusion Concoction is kaput. The One-and-Only Oprah Winfrey is the next shiny object sure to bring down Donald Trump.   

You’d think after Obama we’d had enough of eloquent speech-givers from Chicago, but this is Oprah we’re talking about. 

Oprah Thinking About It

Oprah Winfrey is “actively thinking” about a run, two close friends told CNN Monday. Her longtime companion Stedman “Put a Ring On It Already” Graham told the Los Angeles Times, “It’s up to the people. She would absolutely do it.” Oprah herself admitted in 2017 interview  that Trump’s win opened her eyes to the possibility she could pull it off.

Then again, her best friend Gayle King said the next day Oprah was joking and she’d never run. And in June Oprah herself told the Hollywood Reporter, “I will never run for public office. That’s a pretty definitive thing.” 

But with all her Hollywood and media friends shouting “Run, Oprah, Run!” who could blame her for basking in the possibility?

No one is laughing at the idea.

She can run. She’s got the game and fame to stand on a stage with President Trump. Even the White House said Monday afternoon they’d “welcome the challenge.”  (In 1999, Trump said Oprah would be his “first choice” for VP if he ever ran.)

But will she run?

A Lesson from Governor Cuomo (the Original One)

If Oprah runs she is likely to face, among other people, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. She’d lay waste to him quicker than she did her daytime competitors. But listening to this Oprah talk today I was reminded of Cuomo’s old man, the late Gov. Mario Cuomo.

In 1987, there was enormous chorus calling for Cuomo to run against then-Vice President George Bush in 1988. As with Oprah, it was a speech that put Cuomo on the lips and hearts of Democrats coast-to-coast. That keynote address at the 1984 Democratic National Convention was a beaut. Throw in the melodic voice and puppy dog eyes, and who wouldn’t dream of a President Cuomo?

However, Gov. Cuomo shocked the political world. He sat the race out. In 1989 I heard him explain why. After a talk at the University of Maryland, Cuomo was asked, “Why, oh, why didn’t you run?”  (I may have added the “oh why.”) Cuomo gave a simple answer: “I didn’t have the fire in my belly.” He went on to say that to run for President you have to be absolutely convinced you are the best and only person for the job. Cuomo said he had that conviction when he ran for governor. However, when it came to the presidency, that passion and belief just wasn’t there to do all that would be necessary to win and do the job. 

It’s not enough that “the people” want it. Oprah must want it.

Oprah and Donald

Around that same time, Donald Trump was a guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Even as early as ’88 there was talk of Trump running some day. (Lots of Democrats loved the idea back then.) Oprah asks him about it and Trump says “probably not.” But soon added, “But if it got so bad, I would never want to rule it out totally.” 

It’s actually a fun clip to watch, given all that’s happened and is happening today. (The presidency talk starts at around :57) 

 

 

In 1988, Trump did not have the passion to give up his life to run for office. In 2016, he did. He had the fire. Despite what Michael Wolff says in Fire and Fury about Trump not wanting to win, Trump saw things had gotten so bad he had no choice but to run … and run to win. Even if it meant giving up a life he loved. Even if that meant perhaps losing everything he had built. 

Is Oprah willing to risk it all? Because that’s what it would take.

What Oprah Risks

Does Oprah really want to leave her Montecito mansion on the sunny California coast to trudge for weeks on end through frigid Iowa and New Hampshire? 

Does Oprah really want to blow the across-the-board affection and respect she’s earned by running in a hateful, hyper-partisan climate? Today’s sunny spotlight is tomorrow’s slimy cesspool.

Does Oprah really want to bone up on obscure topics and places knowing that every factual slip will go viral in seconds?

Does Oprah want to be critical when being critical goes against her brand and nature?

Does she really want to get smacked around in debates and negative ads by primary challengers who see her blocking their path to power? Face the racial wrath that’s undergirded the Democratic Party since its founding? Face the radicals of her party who will find her too moderate?

Does she want every word she’s ever taped used against her? Every moment of her illustrious life? (It’s already starting.)

#AllEars pic.twitter.com/GZpj17AepH

— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) January 8, 2018

Does Oprah have the stomach to face Trump’s full fury for six months, especially a Trump who will be obsessed with winning the popular vote in a landslide? Does she want to expend the energy to do the kind of barnstorming that Hillary refused to do — or was incapable of doing — in 2016? 

Heck, does she even want to deal with the weight gain the campaign trail inevitably produces?

And, let’s face it: Does Oprah Winfrey really want the gig? Does she really want to live in the relatively cramped quarters of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue dealing all day with Congress, cabinet departments, foreign crises, minute domestic matters and the media? (Forget the last one. She doesn’t need to worry about the media.) 

Especially if the economy is going well, I suspect the answer will be the same as Mario Cuomo’s in 1988. “Thanks, but no thanks.”

But cheer up, you Hollywood buckaroos! There’s always Tom Hanks. 

 

Al Perrotta is the Managing Editor of The Stream. He is also co-author, with John Zmirak, of the upcoming book The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration. Coming May 21, 2018 from Regnery Publishing.