Celebs, Some Dems Giddy Over Oprah 2020

With a booming speech at the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday night, Oprah Winfrey, the billionaire media entrepreneur and former television talk-show host, launched a thousand fantasies for Democrats: Of a historic campaign to put a black woman in the White House. Of a celebrity candidate, known for her big-hearted optimism, taking on a reality-show president defined by his thirst for combat. Of a presidency, some joked, where everybody would get a car.

Winfrey’s longtime partner, Stedman Graham, stoked the mood in a newspaper interview, suggesting to The LATimes that she would “absolutely do it” — with the caveat that such matters are “up to the people.”

Oprah

The NYTimes reports there was no more official signal on Monday from Ms. Winfrey, 63, as to her interest in the presidency. She has disavowed any ambition to be a candidate in the past, though she has told associates in recent months that she wants to play a part in bringing the country together, two people briefed on her thinking said.

If Winfrey’s ambitions are unclear, the sometimes giddy reaction to her speech at a Hollywood awards dinner underscored the unfulfilled hunger among Democrats for a larger-than-life leader to challenge President Trump.

With no obvious front-runner for the 2020 campaign, Democrats appear likely to spend the next few years grinding through internal disagreements over policy and identity in a long contest for the nomination. There are thorny disagreements in the party about how bluntly liberal its agenda should be, how boldly to confront Mr. Trump and how to balance the task of turning out core Democratic voters with the desire to win over disaffected Republicans and independents.