GOP Women’s Group Boycotts ‘Oprah’ For Refusing to Book Palin
by FOXNews.com
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The Florida Federation of Republican Women has launched a boycott against Oprah Winfrey’s TV show and magazine because the talk queen has said she will not have Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin on her show until after the election.
Democrat Barack Obama — whom Winfrey is supporting for president — was on “Oprah” twice before he announced his run for president, in January 2005 and in October 2006. Winfrey has said she will have neither party’s candidates on her show while they are running for their respective offices.
But the 58-year-old federation, which has 4,500 members, says Winfrey should have Palin on her show now, given how important the Alaska governor’s run is for women.
“She is an icon, and set her herself up to be such a women’s rights and women’s issues person. To have the first vice president of our lifetime on the Republican ticket being a woman and to sit it out regardless of what her personal political beliefs were was disingenuous, we felt,” the group’s First Vice President Cindy Graves told “FOX & Friends” on Wednesday morning.
Graves, 50, says she used to watch “Oprah” and occasionally bought her magazine. She told FOXNews.com that the group has been joined by women all over the country since launching the boycott last Saturday.
“People from Southern California, Tennessee, Texas, Colorado, Rhode Island, just about every state in the union. We’ve also had a tremendous response from Democrats and Independents who are supporting McCain, and Hillary supporters,” she said.
Asked whether the boycott is affecting Oprah’s TV ratings and magazine subscriptions, Graves said Winfrey is “keeping that quiet.”
A call to Oprah’s company, Harpo Productions, for comment was not immediately returned.
Winfrey reacted strongly on Friday to a report posted on the Drudge Report that she and “a couple of her top people are adamantly” against booking Palin on her show.
“The item in today’s Drudge Report is categorically untrue,” Winfrey said in a statement sent to news organizations in reaction to the Drudge Report’s posting. “There has been absolutely no discussion about having Sarah Palin on my show. At the beginning of this presidential campaign when I decided that I was going to take my first public stance in support of a candidate, I made the decision not to use my show as a platform for any of the candidates. I agree that Sarah Palin would be a fantastic interview, and I would love to have her on after the campaign is over.”
Before Obama became a candidate, Winfrey used her show to introduce him to America’s women voters, and she has endorsed and campaigned with the Democratic nominee. She also was very visible at Obama’s nomination acceptance speech in Denver last month.
Winfrey and her executive producer, Sheri Salata, both donated the maximum $2,300 contribution to Obama’s campaign during the primary season.
According to the Drudge Report, Winfrey’s staff is sharply divided on booking Palin.
“Half of her staff really wants Sarah Palin on,” an unidentified source told Drudge. “Oprah’s Web site is getting tons of requests to put her on, but Oprah and a couple of her top people are adamantly against it because of Obama.”
Click here to read more on this story on The Drudge Report. |
