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The nod from O turns eyes toward Obama

By ANDREW SKERRITT
Published December 16, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT Oprah Winfrey's fans flock to her favorite things. Will that hold true for her candidate, Barack Obama?

My wife and I love watching Oprah. Chances are you and your wife do too, given her ratings. It's hard to resist all that talk of hope and inspiration.

So you can understand my displeasure with the pundits trying to dissect and dismiss Oprah's impact on the presidential fortunes of Barack Obama. They just don't get it. They have absolutely no idea of the power of O.

This is not about black folks or the black vote. This is about breaking the Bush-Clinton-Bush cycle of American presidential politics.

Oprah's big fan base is women, black and white. Her endorsement of Obama attempts to persuade those voters to choose him over Hillary Clinton, who hopes to become the first female president.

Oprah's message: We can trust Obama; I feel good about him. He's real.

That's nice, but can he effectively lead this polarized nation? With Oprah lending her credibility and star power, people are starting to believe he can. His ratings in polls in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina are growing along with his confidence. He no longer seems intimidated by the Clinton aura and the expectation that she is the automatic choice for the Democrats.

Oprah or no Oprah, Obama, 46, brings a freshness and an excitement to the 2008 presidential sweepstakes. He shows a deft personal touch and magnetism. He is likeable. He gives political cynics and apathetic voters a reason to pay attention.

He doesn't mangle the English language.

It takes a tough hide to run for president, and how many times have you heard Obama is too young, too inexperienced, too whatever? He's a U.S. senator with degrees from Columbia University and Harvard Law School. He was a civil rights lawyer.

So he's at least as qualified to run this country as the last guy.

The real question: Is this country with such a tortured racial history ready to elect a black man to lead?

It's a long way to Election Day, and I'm not entirely convinced Obama is the one. But like Oprah, I like what I see so far.

Andrew Skerritt can be reached at askerritt@sptimes.com or 813 909-4602 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 4602.

[Last modified December 15, 2007, 20:11:20]