Senate Seat Consideration
The then governor of Illinois reported being so impressed by Winfrey's influence on the election of Barack Obama that he considered offering Winfrey Obama's vacant senate seat. Governor Blagojevich summarized his reasons for considering Winfrey on various talk shows:
| “ | To begin with, she was perhaps the most instrumental person in electing Barack Obama president. She is a larger-than-life figure in America and around the world. She has a huge bully pulpit and tremendous support across America...She has a voice larger than all 100 senators combined. And if she was a U.S. Senator, she would be a voice for the Obama program, which she supports, and she would be in a position to be able to use an unbelievable bully pulpit to be able to get it done. She obviously can't be bought. And she's actually a very, obviously, in my judgment, a very impressive and a very nice person.... On the other hand, how likely is it she'd give up what she's doing for that? I mean, being a senator's a big deal, but it ain't Oprah. | ” |
Winfrey responded to the disclosure with amusement, noting that although she was absolutely not interested, she did feel she could be a senator.
Political analyst Chris Matthews praised the idea of making Winfrey a senator suggesting that in one move it would diversify the senate and raise its collective IQ. Elaborating further he said:
| “ | Anybody who doesn't think Winfrey would be a great senator from Illinois or anywhere is crazy. She gets along with everybody. She brings people together. She finds common ground. She‘s way past race politics 20 years ago. She‘s so far ahead of most people in human relations. And she listens...I think she is up there with Will Rogers and Bob Hope and some of our great public personalities of the last century. | ” |
Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times agreed with Matthews, claiming Winfrey would be “terrific” and an “enormously popular pick.”
Read more about this topic: Oprah Winfrey's Endorsement Of Barack Obama
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