Next on Oprah!

My spies tell me that at the next taping of her show, Oprah will announce she's paying the higher Obama taxes for every member of the studio audience.

She's fierce, she's a feminist and she's in your face

(Ht: Charlie Sykes)
Maybe that's why Oprah Winfrey's numbers are down.

Ratings for “The Oprah Winfrey Show” have dropped nearly 7 percent this year, the third straight year of decline — and some observers point to Oprah’s endorsement of Barack Obama for president as a reason behind the recent plunge.

Oprah’s average audience has fallen to about 7.3 million this year, down from 7.8 million a year ago and nearly 9 million in the 2004-05 season.

And the show has now lost almost a quarter of its audience in the women ages 25 to 54 demographic compared to three years ago.

Oprah’s endorsement of Obama in October “appears to have alienated some of the middle-aged white women who make up the bulk of her television audience, many of whom support Senator Hillary Clinton,” the New York Times observed.

A large number of visitors to Oprah’s Web site have left messages sharply critical of Oprah’s political stance, according to Janice Peck, a University of Colorado associate professor of mass communication and author of a new book on Oprah’s influence, “The Age of Oprah.”

“There are a lot of her fans who are not Democrats or who support Hillary Clinton who feel betrayed,” Peck told the Times.

A Gallup poll conducted shortly after Winfrey announced her backing of Obama found that her “favorable” rating fell by 8 percentage points, to 66 percent from 74 percent in January of last year, while her “unfavorable” rating surged by more than half, from 17 percent to 26 percent.

The Ryan Express?

Congressman Paul Ryan is a good looking guy. Or so I am told, as I really hadn't noticed. He's smart, energetic, and moving up. He has big ideas. He could be the Republican nominee for Vice President. If not this election, four years from now.

Congressman Ryan also just proposed a comprehensive plan, The Roadmap for America's Future, that may end up being his party's agenda in the coming years. Or it may be the roadblock to Paul Ryan's future.

The room at Janesville City Hall was packed. Aides scrambled to bring in more chairs. Ryan stood in the center with the screen behind him. He could have been a vice president of finance of a local corporation explaining the profit and loss sheet with his Powerpoint presentation and his laser pointer.

Ryan admitted his plan is not something we can expect to happen right away. After all, he told the packed house, "Here’s the problem with Congress. We’re told, ‘Don’t try something that’s risky; there’s an election next year.’" Of course, Ryan adds, there’s always an election next year. He gets applause for the line, but the questions about the plan are skeptical.

I think the reception was generally positive, even from the members of the audience who were not members of Americans for Prosperity. But the audience wasn't exactly ready to march out onto the battlefield with a cry of "For St Paul and Entitlement Reform!"

The alternative, Ryan warned, is to watch government spending consume more and more of our gross domestic product, crushing the standard of living and reducing America’s competitiveness in the world.

It’s a bold plan, all the more daring when you consider that the most applause Congressman Ryan received all evening was when he switched topics to oil production. There were very few in the room who objected when Ryan suggested drilling for more oil in Alaska, in the Rocky Mountains and off the coast of Florida. When he said, "Build more oil refineries" you would have thought he was telling Janesville he was secretly Oprah and giving them all a free car.

But Ryan warned the audience that while most of them were supportive of more domestic oil production, "You should see all the letters I get against it."

At that moment I flashed back to the end of "Von Ryan’s Express." Sinatra is laying dead on the tracks, riddled with holes by the Germans as the soldiers who reluctantly followed him escape to freedom.

Congressman Ryan’s future is often talked about in terms of a possible Senate candidate or even vice president. We’ll see if he can avoid the tragic movie ending while leading us to entitlement reform.

On the other hand, how often can I work a Frank Sinatra reference into a column for the Waukesha Freeman?

For proof that I was there, Tee Bee at the Badger Blog Alliance caught a picture of my good side. Can you see the halo?

Or at least an Hermes purse

Oprah's campaigning for Barack Obama in Iowa. The Lovely Doreen from Waukesha made a couple of sharp observations:
Oprah on the campaign trail said that we need a candidate who can heal the racial divide. That's why she's backing Obama, because he's black. (It'll take a moment for those of you who are irony impaired. 3...2...1... Oh yeah.)

From the Associated Press report:

Terri Johnson of Urbandale, Iowa, lined up about two hours before the Des Moines event with three of her five children along. She said she had not been involved much in politics before, but was drawn to the rally by both Oprah and Obama.

"I would have voted for him without her, but it's nice to see Oprah," Johnson said, joking that she hoped Winfrey would have one of her famous giveaways. "I'd love to get a car."

Maybe they'll hand one out at the Caucus.

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"He's so articulate"

Sidney Poitier on Oprah's Oscar Special, referring to Jamie Foxx. I guess "articulate" is allowed now.

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