Obama Needs to Hint at the Oprah Card Now

Back in November, I wrote, 'Will Obama Trump Hillary with an Oprah VP?'.    Its an article about how Obama might negate Hillary's play to capture the vote of women by bringing Oprah Winfrey on the stump circuit and testing the waters for an Oprah for Vice President movement.

• Oprah is a better communicator than Bill Clinton
• Oprah has a very loyal following among women of all races
• Oprah is an extremely successful business woman
• Oprah has the ability to self finance part of the campaign with out batting an eyelash

Back then a couple of my readers pointed out that Oprah could not run on Obama's ticket as VP as they both reside in Illinois. 

That statement is inaccurate.  Oprah can not run on Obama's ticket as VP WHILE they both reside in Illinois.  The only mitigating circumstance here is for Oprah to move and change her residence.  That would not have to be very difficult. 

• She lives in Illinois today, she could move back to Mississippi for example. 
• She could move a few miles down the road to Indiana. 
• She could even move to Washington DC.  
• She has her own private jet, she could move almost anywhere in the country.

The Urgency of Oprah for Obama Now

Back in November it definitely helped Obama to get some momentum going with an Oprah endorsement and stump speech to a packed football stadium in South Carolina.  But that was almost 2 months ago and voters like to know what a candidate has done for them lately.  Obama hasn't done much lately except for come in second place to Hillary.  He needs a massive boost in his movement.

Clinton's Successful Attacks on Obama

During this same time where Obama has coasted, the Clinton's have planted the seeds for his destruction. 

• Mentioning his cocaine usage
• Mentioning that Martin Luther King Jr needed to work with politicians to get things done
• Mentioning his Inexperience
• Mentioning his lack of achievements

Primarily the Clinton's have managed to corner Obama in a corner as the 'black Presidential candidate'.  Maybe you recall last summer, Obama worked very hard not to be seen as just the black Presidential candidate.  His goal was to appeal to a multi-faceted base.  The African American base is very important, but it is not large enough to deliver a candidate the Democratic Nomination.  Iowa was very important for Obama as it showed that mostly white voters could get behind him and support him.  However, since Iowa the Clinton's have managed to start closing things up and closing Obama in  as not just a Presidential candidate that is also African America in part, but a candidate that is largely defined by African American issues to the exclusion of all other important issues.

This painting of Obama into a corner is not necessarily true, but as the Clintons, especially Bill Clinton know, its the perspective of perception that is key to winning and election.  It doesn't have to be true.  It only needs to seem true enough at the time of each vote.

The New Hampshire election and more importantly the Nevada election have shown that Hillary is capturing very important blocks of voters.  She's taking more women with her.  More importantly, she is taking Hispanic voters.  The Clintons have managed to polarize Hispanics against Barack Obama in Nevada and that could slowly extend around the country and possibly create something of a chain reaction that polarizes Hispanics against African Americans in politics even.  The Hispanic voting block is growing and possibly larger than the African American block in many regions around the country.

The Clintons seem to be on a path to marginalize (temporarily) the African American vote during the primaries in order to defeat Barack Obama, knowing that if they do it some what nicely, they will likely get the African American vote back in November.

The Oprah Option is Now an Obvious Necessity of Now

Back in November, the Oprah Option was an interesting and romantic notion.  Today, if Barack Obama wants to become the Presidential Nominee for Democrats it is an obvious necessity.  He needs to open his appeal back up to the rest of the Democratic party.  He needs to do it before he gets to South Carolina next week.

Oprah can re-engage Obama with women of all races.  It can connect him with the South as well as Oprah heralds from Mississippi.  More importantly it can negate Hillary's pull on women and her husbands knife like oratory.  Plus, leaking the concept of adding Oprah to the Vice Presidential ticket and bringing her on the campaign full time will definitely put Obama in the limelight as both an agent of change but also as a media darling. 

The media will be all over Obama and Oprah if she were to join the campaign.  The story is far too compelling.  An African American Senator and an African American media darling, voice of women of many generations and a pop up tv billionaire running together in the race for the Oval Office and the most important jobs in the world.  If Obama fails to do this, he will struggle through the primaries, run low on money ultimately and miss a chance to truly become an agent of change.  He has the potential (I grudge him that as I personally feel he lacks the experience) but he is no match for the Clinton x 2 juggernaut that has managed to reduce his appeal to the entire electorate.  If he is to win the race, he has an obvious necessity now to include Oprah Winfrey.