Hollywood is good at making news—usually about the latest movie blockbuster or acting sensation.
But that was not the case at the most recent Golden Globes awards which worked hard to take the industry and the Golden State out of an unfavorable spotlight.
Before a jewel-bedecked audience of very well-coiffed Californians—notably woman all attired in black, Oprah Winfrey who may be the most well-known and probably richest woman in America gave a speech that have set Democratic hearts atwitter.
She did not in so many words say that she might consider running for president—but she could have.
She did not intimate that if she did she might win. But she just might.
Her words were not a nomination acceptance speech. But they could easily pass for one.
Winfrey mesmerized a rapt crowd in ways that seasoned politicians can only dream of doing. She is not one and has never voiced such aspirations.
But someone named Trump was very silent about his future ambitions and sprung from his own self-invented theatrical pedigree and a glittering real estate empire to capture the nation’s highest office.
Winfrey arguably has much more to offer.
Many of the attendees in full view on one of TV’s gaudiest occasions have become familiar faces in recent months as the victims of sexual harassment and worse at the hands of powerful men.
Most notorious is Paramount’s Harvey Weinstein and other big media names who together have unleashed what amounts to a reign of terror amongst some of Hollywood’ biggest female celebrities and other women with little public profiles.
While these apparently have been open secrets in the closely guarded enclaves of official Hollywood, the world is just coming to know the painful stories that are making headlines.
These travesties have caused a national uproar as more and more women are coming forward to share their experiences.
The moment was right for a heroic call to arms and Winfrey was the perfect person to issue it.
“For too long women have not been heard or believed if they dared to speak their truth to the power of those men,” thundered Winfrey. And to the swelling roars of a crowd now on its feet, she threw down the gauntlet, “But their time is up. Their time is up.”
Winfrey in minutes inspired camera-savvy personalities more accustomed to delivering their own passionate orations in ways that another woman with superlative political credentials who twice sought the presidency could never seem to do.
Trump’s astonishing victory as much as the election of the first African-American for very different reasons were both major inflection points signaling that the political arena may perhaps now be open to all comers.
As the state which already sent a famous movie actor to the White House and once elected a song-and-dance man (George Murphy) to the U.S. Senate, a boomlet that starts here for a Winfrey candidacy would be little surprise.
With her nation-wide following, highly recognizable face, and the smarts to amass a vast fortune after a dirt-scrabble youth, putting together a viable campaign organization would not be much of a struggle.
Her soaring popularity among very diverse age, ethnic, race and gender groups could make her a formidable adversary if the party—assuming she ran under the Democratic banner—united around her.
Many independents who left the Democratic fold in the last go-around could be expected to follow.
A core group would be the women, young and old, and men with wives and daughters equally affronted by the abuses now coming to light and ready to join in protest.
Assuming Trump is still around in 2020, Winfrey would pose unusual complications for many reasons.
For starters, he would not have the upper hand in drawing media attention—a key to his win—- where she has built much of her reputation and has her own TV network.
Her verbal skills are legendary, she is not shy, and a face off in a debate would probably garner one the biggest audiences in history.
Time will tell if her eye popping Hollywood turn was just another cameo appearance or a dress rehearsal for something far grander.