# Just on CNN: Oprah Winfrey seriously thinking about running for POTUS in 2020 **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 8, 2018, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148 "2018-01-08T16:24:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/1 "2018-01-08T16:24:11Z")
What could possibly go wrong with this?!?!? Sorry, Oprah, I think you should stick to acting and “60 Minutes”. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/2 "2018-01-08T16:31:18Z")
No no no no no no no no no no no no no. If there is _anything_ we as a culture _need_ to have learned from the Trump administration, it is that knowing what the fuck you’re doing should not be optional when the job is “most powerful person on the planet”. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/3 "2018-01-08T16:36:14Z")
One of the commentators was a black woman who said that we don’t need a “rock star” president, and pointed out that the first serious black candidate, AND the first serious female candidate, were the same person - a veteran politician, Shirley Chisholm in 1972. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/4 "2018-01-08T16:43:35Z")
I don’t think the response to a jerk celebrity President with no practical experience is a personable celebrity President with no practical experience. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/5 "2018-01-08T16:51:33Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I don’t think the response to a jerk celebrity President with no practical experience is a personable celebrity President with no practical experience. Especially one who is so fond of promoting charlatans. Surgeon General Dr. Oz, anyone? ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/6 "2018-01-08T17:01:11Z")
Before the 2016 election, I told some Democrat friends that I thought the Democrats had nominated the only person that Trump could beat. I now feel that statement was in error. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/7 "2018-01-08T17:03:20Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Before the 2016 election, I told some Democrat friends that I thought the Democrats had nominated the only person that Trump could beat. I now feel that statement was in error. You think she’s already been nominated? Wow. ---
**Author:** ![Covfefe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Covfefe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covfefe)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/8 "2018-01-08T17:06:19Z")
Oprah’s the one who asked Trump in an interview in the '90s if he’d run for president, right? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/9 "2018-01-08T17:06:45Z")
Someone who could unite the racists and misogynists among us. Someone with no political experience. Not exactly a recipe for success. Give me good old boring Joe Biden. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/10 "2018-01-08T17:06:52Z")
She should seriously consider running for an office lower than president her first time out. I don’t think her celebrity status automatically means she’s not qualified to hold office, but why does everyone think about the top job first in these cases? Governor or Senator would be a good first step for someone like Oprah. She’s got the name recognition, and executive experience in business and media, but the fate of the world wouldn’t be in her hands on her first day as an elected official as governor or member of Congress. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/11 "2018-01-08T17:08:44Z")
About the best I can say of Oprah is that she’d be better than Trump, but that’s not saying much. In fact, she’s about as close as I can think of to a left-wing equivalent to Trump. If it came down to her vs. Trump in the general, I’d vote for her, but I’d also do everything I can to ensure that that situation doesn’t come to pass. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/12 "2018-01-08T17:09:16Z")
One step closer to President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/13 "2018-01-08T17:14:54Z")
_pours out some Brawndo for the dummies_ ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/14 "2018-01-08T17:16:32Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > One step closer to President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho. That was not suppose to be a documentary was it? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/15 "2018-01-08T17:17:15Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Someone who could unite the racists and misogynists among us. I tend to think those groups are pretty united already, often within the same person. It would be tougher to find a candidate who could split them apart. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/16 "2018-01-08T17:43:33Z")
Will there be a free new car under every ballot? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/17 "2018-01-08T17:45:04Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Will there be a free new car under every ballot? How about some pot with every chicken? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/18 "2018-01-08T18:26:50Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I don’t think the response to a jerk celebrity President with no practical experience is a personable celebrity President with no practical experience. This. We don’t need another reality TV star as president or even to RUN for president. If she runs, she’ll create another Bernie effect, which just pulls votes from a serious candidate. What makes people think they can just step into the job and do it?? Massive ego, I guess. Don’t get me wrong: Oprah has done a lot of good in her life, she’s pulled herself up by her own bootstraps, and my hat is off to her. But she is as divisive a figure as Hillary Clinton ever was. She is as hated by the people who hate her as Hillary ever was. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/19 "2018-01-08T18:36:07Z")
I am astonished that smart people like Josh Barro are taking her seriously as a Presidential contender. As was said many times in 2016, President isn’t an entry-level position and we have had a whole year’s worth of demonstration of that proposition. Exactly why does anyone think that Oprah has the policy chops to deal with a serious geopolitical or economic crisis ? Despite Trump’s awfulness I am cautiously optimistic that the US will recover over the next few election cycles and return to sensible government under a sane party. The one thing that would convince me otherwise is if the Democrats nominate someone like Oprah and thus prove that there are two crazy parties instead of one. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/20 "2018-01-08T18:39:42Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > She should seriously consider running for an office lower than president her first time out. I don’t think her celebrity status automatically means she’s not qualified to hold office, but why does everyone think about the top job first in these cases? Governor or Senator would be a good first step for someone like Oprah. She’s got the name recognition, and executive experience in business and media, but the fate of the world wouldn’t be in her hands on her first day as an elected official as governor or member of Congress. This is exactly how I’ve always felt about Ben Carson. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148.md?page=2)