Does Oprah's Refusal to Interview Palin Really Matter?

In a word no it doesn't. But Oprah's statement about the matter reeks with hypocrisy. Here is Oprah's statement as posted by Drudge:

"The item in today's Drudge Report is categorically untrue. 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." (emphasis added)

Or course, running with Oprah's statement is a picture of her, on her set interviewing Obama.

Hypocrisy, thy name is Oprah.

Oprah is of course free to endorse who she wants and she is free to determine who will be on her show. She has both the first amendmendment press and speech rights to do so. But you can't say you won't use your show as a platform for any of the candidates and have a candidate that you support on your show. It is a lie and she knows it.

Frankly, I don't think she would know what to say or do with Sarah Palin. Oprah has never shown any skill at nuanced thinking and the many layers of Sarah Palin simply confuse her. Oprah would no doubt spend the entire interview questioning Palin's choices, Track Palin, Bristol Palin, Trig Palin and all the other stuff the media has spent a week spinning. Oprah looks like a good interview because she acts like she cares and she has perfected that intense look of empathy, but the fact of the matter is that Oprah doesn't really know how to handle a substantive interview.

In short, Palin scares her because Palin can do the shallow and the deep, whereas Oprah only knows the shallow.

So Oprah doesn't want to have Sarah Palin on her show. Fine, it is her choice. But make no mistake about it, the reason Palin won't be on Oprah show has nothing to do with Winfrey not wanting her show to be used as a platform for candidates and everything to do with the fact that Palin would sway the audience that Oprah is trying desperatly to deliver to Obama.