Oprah can trump Trump

OPINION

History repeats itself. When the stock market collapsed in 1929 to trigger the Great Depression, the following decade of stagnation gave rise to xenophobia, militarism, dictatorship, genocide, and the second world war. It’s been eight years since the financial markets collapsed in 2008. Survey our political discourse and one would think that we’re living in the 1930s — on the brink of world war — and watching a modern day Hitler inflame brute sentiments of racism and fear.

Donald Trump is dangerous, and Hillary Clinton might not be a strong enough candidate to stop him. In this celebrity driven zeitgeist, seemingly, the only one who can stop him is a celebrity of equal stature and equal wealth: Oprah Winfrey.

National politics has devolved from statesmanship to entertainment. Voters are disgusted with politicians, whom they perceive to be insincere and self-interested. People Magazine has become more influential to the discourse of the body politic than The New York Times. 

For entertainment’s sake, let’s postulate a Trump vs. Winfrey match up. Forbes puts Trump’s net worth at $4 billion; and puts Winfrey at $3 billion. Each knows how to use the media to propagate a message, not needing to be beholden to lobbyists and corporate funded PACs.

In a climate of hate, religious bigotry, and xenophobia — who better to bring the world back from the brink of all out war than the personal empowerment guru herself. Winfrey defeats Trump on a wide range of indicators, especially likability and trustworthiness — which are Hillary Clinton’s most worrisome metrics.

Much of the presidency is about the bully pulpit.

Now more than ever, we need a leader who is capable of managing the public discourse and shaping national sentiments; someone who can preach a message of personal empowerment and rally people around national objectives. The argument can be made that no other individual in America is more suited for the presidency at this moment.

It took George W. Bush eight years and a trillion dollars to figure out that bullets can’t change hearts and minds. It seems to follow that we need a president who is an expert at it. And that says nothing about Winfrey’s deeply compelling personal story. When you give voters a choice between two billionaires, they will choose the self-made one every time.

It is far too dangerous a moment in world history to allow Hillary Clinton to risk loosing the presidency to an egomaniacal madman who has the White House disturbingly within his grasp.