Loon
Inactive
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=6191716&page=1
Oprah 'Unleashed' After Her Candidate's Win
Winfrey Speaks Freely About Obama on Her First Postelection Show
By LUCHINA FISHER
Nov. 5, 2008
RSS Oprah is unleashed!
The talk queen praises Obama's election win during taping of her show.
With the election won by the candidate she endorsed off air and stayed mum about on her talk show, Winfrey finally admitted from the stage of her Chicago-based show a day after Barack Obama was elected president what everybody already knew: She's a staunch Obama supporter.
And in true Oprah fashion, she whooped, hollered and cried as if she herself had won the election.
Taking the stage wearing a T-shirt that read "Hope Won" beneath a bright red sweater, and waving a flag in one hand and the cover of the Chicago Sun Times with the headline "Mr. President" in the other, Winfrey screamed, "I have two words for you, America: Mr. President.
"During this long campaign, I made a vow at the beginning I would not use my show as a platform, and I kept my mouth shut and supported Barack Obama as a private citizen," she told her audience during a live taping of the show Wednesday morning. "Today, though, the election is over and I'm unleashed."
Related
Oprah Winfrey Presents: Barack ObamaPHOTOS: Hollywood Hits the Voting BoothIs Oprah a Traitor? Some Women Say Yes Winfrey went "out on a limb" last May when she publicly endorsed Obama during an appearance on Larry King's CNN show. In September 2007, the media mogul hosted a fundraiser at her Promised Land estate in California, raking in more than $3 million for Obama's White House bid. And last December she hit the campaign trail with the Democratic candidate, making appearances alongside him in Iowa, South Carolina and New Hampshire.
Her public support cost her some of her viewers, who posted comments on her Web site calling her "ignorant" and a "traitor" for backing Obama over Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary.
"You know, for so long I've felt a connection to Oprah and all that she's done not only for women but the world in general. She was such an idol to me, and I truly loved all that she stood for. Since she threw her support behind Barack Obama I felt like she let me down," wendykwrit posted in January.
A CBS poll last August showed that Orpah's favorability rating had dropped from 74 percent to 61 percent. And in AOL TV popularity survey, 47 percent of respondents said they would like to have dinner with talk show host Ellen Degeneres, while 14 percent chose Winfrey.
On Wednesday's show, Winfrey addressed viewers like wendykwrit. "For those of you who have been loyal viewers who voted differently than I and 52 percent of the country did, I respect your choice and understand how you might be feeling disappointed today just as I might be," she said. "If this was not the outcome, I would be doing this show from Northwestern Hospital [in Chicago] with a drip today."
"But my deepest hope is in the days and weeks ahead, we will come together with the same renewed spirit that we took to the polls because we need each other now more than ever," Winfrey continued.
Winfrey, accompanied by her partner Stedman Graham, joined the thousands of people massed on Grant Park in Chicago to celebrate Obama's win. She described it as "the most electrifying and emotional night I have ever experienced."
Earlier on Tuesday, Winfrey told Robin Roberts from "Good Morning America" that she had no regrets about throwing her weight behind Obama.
Related
Oprah: I'm Not Against HillaryPHOTOS: Notables and Everymen ReactCan 'Oprah Effect' Make Obama President? "I told everybody who knew me if he ever ran, I would put everything I had at stake to support him because there's a wonderful Bible passage that says 'What does it do to gain the world and lose your soul?'" she said. "And I knew that in this moment in time, in my lifetime, I would have lost a piece of my soul had I not stood up for him. So I'm happy I happen to be on the right side of history. But if this had not turned out the way we all wanted it to, it was still the right thing for me to do in the moment I did it."
Asked by Roberts if she can take credit for helping him win, Winfrey was quick to reply, "I'm certainly not responsible."
A December ABC/Washington Post poll backed up Winfrey's assertion. Only 8 percent of Democrats said they were persuaded by her Obama endorsement, 82 percent said it wouldn't matter either way and 10 percent said her recommendation had turned them off Obama.
Winfrey also shared with Roberts her experience of voting early last week. Winfrey struck up a conversation with some women at a drug rehab center across from her polling place. "It was great," she said, "great because for many of them it was the first time voting and they were proud, proud to be there. And I thought, 'Listen, we'll take the drug addicts' vote.'"
Oprah 'Unleashed' After Her Candidate's Win
Winfrey Speaks Freely About Obama on Her First Postelection Show
By LUCHINA FISHER
Nov. 5, 2008
RSS Oprah is unleashed!
The talk queen praises Obama's election win during taping of her show.
With the election won by the candidate she endorsed off air and stayed mum about on her talk show, Winfrey finally admitted from the stage of her Chicago-based show a day after Barack Obama was elected president what everybody already knew: She's a staunch Obama supporter.
And in true Oprah fashion, she whooped, hollered and cried as if she herself had won the election.
Taking the stage wearing a T-shirt that read "Hope Won" beneath a bright red sweater, and waving a flag in one hand and the cover of the Chicago Sun Times with the headline "Mr. President" in the other, Winfrey screamed, "I have two words for you, America: Mr. President.
"During this long campaign, I made a vow at the beginning I would not use my show as a platform, and I kept my mouth shut and supported Barack Obama as a private citizen," she told her audience during a live taping of the show Wednesday morning. "Today, though, the election is over and I'm unleashed."
Related
Oprah Winfrey Presents: Barack ObamaPHOTOS: Hollywood Hits the Voting BoothIs Oprah a Traitor? Some Women Say Yes Winfrey went "out on a limb" last May when she publicly endorsed Obama during an appearance on Larry King's CNN show. In September 2007, the media mogul hosted a fundraiser at her Promised Land estate in California, raking in more than $3 million for Obama's White House bid. And last December she hit the campaign trail with the Democratic candidate, making appearances alongside him in Iowa, South Carolina and New Hampshire.
Her public support cost her some of her viewers, who posted comments on her Web site calling her "ignorant" and a "traitor" for backing Obama over Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary.
"You know, for so long I've felt a connection to Oprah and all that she's done not only for women but the world in general. She was such an idol to me, and I truly loved all that she stood for. Since she threw her support behind Barack Obama I felt like she let me down," wendykwrit posted in January.
A CBS poll last August showed that Orpah's favorability rating had dropped from 74 percent to 61 percent. And in AOL TV popularity survey, 47 percent of respondents said they would like to have dinner with talk show host Ellen Degeneres, while 14 percent chose Winfrey.
On Wednesday's show, Winfrey addressed viewers like wendykwrit. "For those of you who have been loyal viewers who voted differently than I and 52 percent of the country did, I respect your choice and understand how you might be feeling disappointed today just as I might be," she said. "If this was not the outcome, I would be doing this show from Northwestern Hospital [in Chicago] with a drip today."
"But my deepest hope is in the days and weeks ahead, we will come together with the same renewed spirit that we took to the polls because we need each other now more than ever," Winfrey continued.
Winfrey, accompanied by her partner Stedman Graham, joined the thousands of people massed on Grant Park in Chicago to celebrate Obama's win. She described it as "the most electrifying and emotional night I have ever experienced."
Earlier on Tuesday, Winfrey told Robin Roberts from "Good Morning America" that she had no regrets about throwing her weight behind Obama.
Related
Oprah: I'm Not Against HillaryPHOTOS: Notables and Everymen ReactCan 'Oprah Effect' Make Obama President? "I told everybody who knew me if he ever ran, I would put everything I had at stake to support him because there's a wonderful Bible passage that says 'What does it do to gain the world and lose your soul?'" she said. "And I knew that in this moment in time, in my lifetime, I would have lost a piece of my soul had I not stood up for him. So I'm happy I happen to be on the right side of history. But if this had not turned out the way we all wanted it to, it was still the right thing for me to do in the moment I did it."
Asked by Roberts if she can take credit for helping him win, Winfrey was quick to reply, "I'm certainly not responsible."
A December ABC/Washington Post poll backed up Winfrey's assertion. Only 8 percent of Democrats said they were persuaded by her Obama endorsement, 82 percent said it wouldn't matter either way and 10 percent said her recommendation had turned them off Obama.
Winfrey also shared with Roberts her experience of voting early last week. Winfrey struck up a conversation with some women at a drug rehab center across from her polling place. "It was great," she said, "great because for many of them it was the first time voting and they were proud, proud to be there. And I thought, 'Listen, we'll take the drug addicts' vote.'"
