Who's Attacking Oprah?

The Times of London is reporting that media superstar Oprah Winfrey is experiencing a backlash against her support of Barack Obama for President, with visitors to her website posting messages calling her a "Traitor." From "The Times":

Yet a backlash by Clinton supporters appears to have prompted a rethink by Winfrey, the African-American media titan who is routinely described as the most influential woman on television.

From the message board:

OPRAH IS A TRAITOR!!!!!!!!! Nov 27, 2007 12:08 PM
I cannot believe that women all over this country are not up in arms over Oprah's backing of Obama. For the first time in history, we actually have a shot at putting a woman in the white house and Oprah backs the black MAN. She's choosing her race over her gender- hypocracy at it's finest!! Oprah- you should be ashamed of yourself!!!!!

With all due respect to my colleagues across The Pond, there appears to be significantly less here than meets the eye. I know it's a wide ocean, but reporting a "scoop" from November? Who's your stringer, Ponce de Leon? Let's dig into this a little after the jump, because there is a discussion to be had here.

Actually, there are several discussions, each filling volumes. First, let's get "The Times" story out of the way. I don't want to beat up on them too much, as they are not alone in trying to stir the pot, albeit remotely. This campaign has already seen sparring over trumped-up race issues and gender politics, so it's only natural to try to combine the two.

Having said that, writing a news story about content from internet forums is like reporting on bathroom graffiti. For example, did you know that dinosaurs control our elections? What I really love, though, is the very first reply to the "Oprah is a Traitor" post:

...Review the candidates history....REALLY search it out--it's easy to find!! In all **fairness** Oprah....you need RON PAUL on your show!!...

The Times goes on to speculate that Oprah is having second thoughts. Their source? Check it out:

Yet Obama's rivals suspect that Winfrey has been startled by the virulent reaction to her previous campaign appearance.

Iron-clad, airtight sourcing. Good show, old bean! So, now that we've established that this story is poorly sourced tripe (not necessarily a bad thing in jolly old England), let's discuss the tangential issues here.

One thing The Times gets right is that there's a decent chance that these comments are the work of provocateurs trying to cow Oprah into silence. However, in today's world of double-reverse, Keyser Soze-style twist ending politics, it could as easily be anti-Clinton people trying to make you think she's behind it, or pro-Clinton people acting on their own, or Hillary herself signing up for 543 Oprah accounts using separate GMail accounts.

Should race and/or gender be a determining factor in someone's vote? You tell me what you think, but I say of course, it can be A determining factor. I also say this is America, Oprah can throw darts at Stedman to decide, if she wants to and he doesn't mind.

Another interesting question is, who needs it more? Who is in worse shape, black people or women? Again, tell me your thoughts.

In the final analysis, it is racist and sexist, not to mention un-American, to suggest that Oprah is a traitor to anyone. In fact, our democracy is better for her participation in it. Maybe if all of those people got off of those message boards and into the game, we'd have had a woman president already.

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