What is the price of believing?

Written By: - Date published: 1:41 pm, December 12th, 2007 - 15 comments
Categories: International - Tags:

Oprah is a global brand, so when she went public with her campaign to support Barack Obama it was part of our news cycle.

But we haven’t seen much follow-up on what it means for the Democrats and impact on the African American vote as they primaries beckon.

For those taking an interest in US politics it’s not as simple as experience versus aspiration but it does reinforce how much about politics is a leap of faith.

This opinion from the Washington Post helped place Oprah’s presentation in a wider context:

Is it foolish to think that a nation stained by centuries of slavery and racism is prepared to elect a black president? Rarely phrased so bluntly, that’s the central question posed by Barack Obama’s candidacy — especially for many African American voters, whose doubts are informed by having seen many an oasis turn out to be a mirage.

Oprah Winfrey, as is her wont, cut to the heart of the matter. Campaigning on Obama’s behalf this weekend, she echoed the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in offering permission to believe… [read on]

15 comments on “What is the price of believing? ”

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  1. slightlyrighty 1
    12 December 2007 at 2:11 pm

    Tane.

    I doubt there would be such razamatazz if Oprah was limited to $120000 in the 12 months before the election.

  2. Robinsod 2
    12 December 2007 at 2:20 pm

    Slightly – this post was written by Dancer. Honestly this Tane obsession all you righties seem to have is getting pretty creepy.

  3. Tane 3
    12 December 2007 at 2:23 pm

    SR – I didn’t write this post. But anyway:

    1) This is a primary, not part of the Presidential election campaign.

    2) This looks like an official Obama event which means she’s not acting as a third party.

    3) Even if she was a third party, $120,000 would clearly not be an appropriate figure for a country the size of the US. Scaled to the US population (75x) it works out at $9,000,000.

    4) Does everything have to be linked back to the Electoral Finance Bill with you? You’re starting to come across a little one-dimensional.

  4. slightlyrighty 4
    12 December 2007 at 2:35 pm

    Tane.

    My wife is a bit of an oprah fan. A quick look back through previous episodes has a number of items devoted to Obama. Now that Oprah has declared her support, what would the effect of that be if such conduct was carried out in NZ in Election Year?

    Would this be covered by the editorial provisions of the EFB or would this be regarded as a third party campaign? Is this Big Money Politics or the media at work?

    And yes, I am very focussed on the EFB. I personally find it to be an affront to democracy. I am not a mamber of any political party, nor a man of means. But I feel that this legislation is sufficiently short sighted that the next election will not be decided by the voters, but by the lawyers.

    How would a lawyer argue the Oprah/Obama situation, if it was in NZ under the EFB?

    The fact is what we see here is robust democracy at work

  5. Robinsod 5
    12 December 2007 at 2:49 pm

    So, on a more interesting note than slightly’s – anyone else here going to the press gallery party tonight? I saw DPF there last year, I wonder if he’ll turn up again? (I better not drink too much or I may start giving him stick about banning me!)

  6. IrishBill 6
    12 December 2007 at 3:28 pm

    I’ll be there ‘Sod. I’m thinking about doing a post on it tomorrow. We can have a beer or two but you better behave yourself.

  7. the sprout 7
    12 December 2007 at 3:37 pm

    photos please

  8. IrishBill 8
    12 December 2007 at 3:41 pm

    Way ahead of you sprout. I might even get some video.

  9. the sprout 9
    12 December 2007 at 3:45 pm

    ooh ooh, see if you can smuddle some covert audio out too!

  10. the sprout 10
    12 December 2007 at 3:46 pm

    *smuggle

  11. Matthew Pilott 11
    12 December 2007 at 3:50 pm

    At least it wasn’t snuggle

  12. Robinsod 12
    12 December 2007 at 4:13 pm

    Snuggle. DPF. Eweugh.

  13. deemac 13
    12 December 2007 at 9:16 pm

    Greg Palast says the Republicans have plans to make sure African-Americans find it hard to vote in the actual elections (not primaries – which are a completely different animal) – see his website http://www.gregpalast.com , it’s scary…

  14. PhilBest 14
    13 December 2007 at 2:38 pm

    From the Washington Post’s Gramscian opinion writer: (Quoted above)

    “Is it foolish to think that a nation stained by centuries of slavery and racism is prepared to elect a black president? Rarely phrased so bluntly, that’s the central question posed by Barack Obama’s candidacy — especially for many African American voters, whose doubts are informed by having seen many an oasis turn out to be a mirage.”

    Oprah Winfrey doesn’t seem like a mirage to me and neither do her millions. Neither do I see any equivalent to her among those who share her ancestry but who remain in Africa.

    I have a deep horror of slavery and racism. But let’s give credit where its due, and no country in the world with a race relations background anything like the US, has come so far. Some of the most appalling racism, and indeed, slavery, still exists today on the African continent.

    There is considerably more hatred and distrust between certain white European races today than there is between MOST white and black US citizens.

    I predict that the first Black President of the US will be a Republican. Obama won’t make it, not because he’s black, but because of his policy substance or lack of it. Condi Rice would have a better chance if she were standing.

    By the way, Thomas Sowell is one of my favourite op-ed writers.

  15. PhilBest 15
    13 December 2007 at 2:43 pm

    And I agree fully with slightlyrighty above. The US political electioneering system is a mature system, next to which NZ now, with its EFB, looks like infants fighting in a cot, and Helen has thrown all the toys out.

    Notice that the leftwing in the US doesn’t go blubbing about how those mean rightwingers get all the funding. No, they set to work and match the right wing, or more than match the right wing. George Soros. Ted Turner. MoveOn.Org. The Rockefeller Foundation.

    The biggest fundraiser of all is Hillary Clinton – a soft Eurosocialist if there ever was one.