Oprah Hitting Campaign Trail Invites Much Speculation
POLITICAL ANALYSIS BY JOHN TOSCANO

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In a strategically timed campaign move which could give Barack Obama a tremendous boost toward capturing the Democratic Party presidential nomination, television superstar Oprah Winfrey will campaign with Obama in the crucial final stages of the first primaries of the campaign in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

In essence, Oprah is making this precedentsetting (for her) dramatic entry into a political race that suddenly has tightened into an Obama- Hillary Clinton horse race, not the "inevitable" walkover it had once been perceived for the former First Lady.

Simultaneously with Oprah's firstever foray into a political contest, Clinton finds herself losing her lead over Obama in the polls in Iowa about six months before the crucial caucuses are to be held on January 3.

With the momentum shifted to Obama, Oprah steps in to add her star power and keep the momentum going to solidify Obama's strength in the Hawkeye State, and a victory on January 3.

However, on the other side of the coin, there are those who see Oprah as an untested commodity in the political arena, especially the one where the next president of the United States is the prize awaiting the winner.

Much has been made about Oprah's immense popularity with women viewers, especially those who make up her audience and her uncanny ability to take a new book by an unknown author and make it into a best seller.

But will this translate into her anointing a political candidate with the expectation that voters, women and men, will let her endorsement suffice, and they will let her judgment replace their judgment?

In all the stories we have read that trumpet her dramatic entrance into the political spotlight, not one has questioned whether a superrich, self-made, highly rated black woman coming out strongly for a black candidate who's hoping to become the first of his race to occupy the White House might trigger prejudices that certainly still exist in this country.

Can anyone deny that race is still a smoldering problem in this country at this time when tensions arose in Louisiana over black youths being indicted as a result of confrontations with white kids who escaped any charges, turning the Jena 6 into a national issue?

Right here in New York City, on the Columbia University campus nooses were hung on a black professor's office door. These and other events have resulted in black and white community leaders in Queens coming together at forums to deal with these flareups of hate.

One such meeting, "A Day Against Hate", will be held tomorrow at Queensborough Community College.

We wonder- is it possible that Oprah campaigning for Obama will trigger a reaction opposite to that which none of the commentators has touched on in reporting her entrance into the suddenly blistering campaign?

Oprah herself didn't mention any questions of possible racial consequences emerging from her personal participation in the race.

According to press reports, she stated in an interview in the Hollywood Reporter on Monday that she had decided "that I have the right to do it as an American citizen" but "will not use [her] platform... I can use my own personal voice".

We think that Oprah's decision to get into a political campaign for the first time will have implications that will inspire books by political commentators and social and cultural mavens alike. But no one should take it for granted that her mere presence will sweep Obama to victory. That's too simple a conclusion to draw when there are so many intangibles that will come into play when she hits the campaign trail next month.