There was quite a stir recently after Oprah Winfrey’s speech at the Golden Globe Awards. There is now speculation on whether Oprah (known by her first name) will run for president of the United States.
I have already written on the prospects of a Mark Cuban presidency.
There is little doubt that Oprah would run on the Democratic ticket. And assuming Trump is still around in 2020 and decides to run again, it would make quite the showdown in the general election if Oprah won the nomination.
The left would have a hard time trumpeting up Oprah’s success as a businesswoman. After all, they hate Donald Trump, yet it is hard to deny his success as a businessman. The same can be said with Mark Cuban. It is true though that being good in business does not translate into success as a politician, at least not in terms of liberty.
Most business people will say that they can bring more efficiency to a bureaucratic government. This almost never happens. Plus, efficiency isn’t a goal for libertarians. The goal is liberty. In fact, there are many times that libertarians prefer an inefficient government to an efficient one. We certainly don’t want an efficient IRS. I wouldn’t even necessarily want an efficient government education system. It means politicians would be more efficient in teaching (indoctrinating) students with their ideas.
Being a good businesswoman is Oprah’s strength. She was a highly successful talk show host and she is still highly successful in her business ventures. She should keep doing what she is good at. The marketplace has rewarded her with great wealth for providing value to others. The profit signal tells her that she should keep doing what she’s been doing, and it will better serve mankind.
When you get into government, there are no signals of profit and loss. There is no feedback mechanism. This is why it is impossible for government to be efficient at allocating resources.
While I have several positive things to say about Oprah, her past judgement in company is not one of them. She is close to the Obamas. She has been in the company of the Clintons. She was on the inside with Harvey Weinstein. There are already a lot of pictures that tell more than a thousand words.
Oprah is not guilty of the crimes of these people for associating with them. But it shows a lack of good judgement of character on her part. I have no idea if Oprah is an honest person, but I like to give her the benefit of the doubt. Either she lacks good character, or she lacks good judgement of character in others. In other words, she would not be a good president.
If you can’t figure out that Hillary Clinton is a corrupt criminal that should be behind bars, then I really think that alone is reason enough to disqualify you in my eyes. It is possible to have someone who is highly principled and believes in liberty, but just doesn’t pay any attention to current events. If there were such a person and they didn’t know much about Hillary Clinton, then maybe that person could get a pass. But Oprah knows the Clintons, and if she can’t figure out just how corrupt they are, then there is little hope for her in figuring out the corrupt system that is Washington DC.
Oprah is even closer with the Obamas. I assume she mostly approves of their agenda. If Obamacare doesn’t bother Oprah, and if the wars in Libya and Syria and elsewhere don’t bother Oprah, then she is certainly nowhere near on the side of liberty.
There is always a chance that someone could get into office and study up on the issues and realize just how bad and corrupt things are. This may have happened with John Kennedy to a certain degree, at least in terms of foreign policy and the CIA.
However, if Oprah really is a good person and just naive about everything, then she is going to get eaten alive by the swamp. If she even gets to the general election, then she will get hit hard by all of the lobbyists and the insiders if she is elected president. She will be quickly corrupted, or else she won’t survive long. She won’t even know how to handle it. Also, if she doesn’t have a clue going in, then it will be the Obama and Clinton types who will surround her like vultures. They will get the cabinet appointments and the advisor jobs. She will get a lot of bad advice.
It is understanding that people want change. That is why Obama was elected in 2008. It is why Trump was elected in 2016. If Oprah is elected president in 2020, it will be a continuation of the discontent with the status quo.
Unfortunately, if Oprah is elected, she will be eaten alive by Washington DC. She will also preside over a very difficult time for this country. The national debt is already out of control. The unfunded liabilities (Medicare and Social Security) are on the verge of bankruptcy without some kind of reform. And meanwhile, the empire overseas goes on.
If you happen to be reading this Oprah, my advice for you is to forget politics. Maybe you can disassociate with your political friends too. Just keep on making money and serving society through the marketplace.