Oprah Winfrey’s speech at the Golden Globes a couple weeks ago has generated a lot of buzz that she should run for President of the United States in 2020. Personally, I think she’d make a great president, but I’m still not going to vote for her.

The reason I’m not going to vote for her is because I think her presence in the White House would be too divisive for the nation, and America is already too divided.

A large section of the population on the left would love her, but an equal amount on the right would hate her, probably even despise her, and the already-large rift between the right and the left would grow wider.

Americans have always been divided over politics; there’s a reason we’re warned not to talk about politics at cocktail parties. The current rift between Democrats and Republicans began during the Pres. Clinton era, whose philandering first enraged, then bolstered the Christian right.

The rift between the liberals and conservatives grew particularly wide during the George W. Bush era, as liberals first mocked Bush’s menial speaking skills and were then shocked and enraged when he took the nation to war with Iraq. That rift widened further under Pres. Obama’s tenure, and under Trump’s watch it’s currently at its most polarized since the Civil War. lf Oprah won the presidency I believe the divide between Republicans and Democrats would grow wider still.

Which is too bad, because Oprah possesses many qualifications that I admire in a politician; qualities that would serve her well if she was elected president.
She’s well-spoken and a good communicator. She’s diplomatic, yet assertive when she needs to be. She has a strong grasp of history, that seems fuller and more comprehensive that many career politicians.

One of the most vital abilities a president must possess is keen delegation skills. Whoever becomes our next president, they’ll be responsible for staffing cabinet positions as well as many other advisory committees.

Whoever’s elected president can’t be expected to be an expert at agriculture, urban development, foreign relations, labor, defense, commerce and transportation, but they do need to be an expert at finding the most qualified persons to fill those positions, something that our current president has failed at miserably.

A year into his presidency Pres. Trump still has scores of vacant positions on advisory committees, while some of his choices for cabinet – Ben Carson, Ryan Zinke, Rick Perry, Betsy DeVos – have proven grossly unqualified and incompetent at their jobs.

Oprah would likely be better at this important job than most. She founded her own television network, The Oprah Winfrey Network, and in order for it to be successful she had to fully staff thousands of positions with qualified, talented people, all the way from presidents, vice presidents, and department heads all the way down to maintenance staff.

Did Oprah interview and hire every writer, producer’s assistant and office manager? No, of course not.

She hired the presidents, vice presidents and department heads and trusted them to fill the remaining positions with competent, talented people, a process very similar to staffing a government cabinet and advisory committees. My guess is that staffing a television network from the ground up is considerably more difficult than filling positions for a system that already exists.

So yes, I believe the skill sets that Oprah possesses would make her an excellent president, but ultimately I think she’d just be too divisive for our country. I’m looking for a candidate who’s smart, has a lot of government experience, and who won’t further inflame the bi-partisan fever. I’m looking for someone who is really close to center, whether Democrat or Republican.

I’m tired of having a divided nation. I hate that my group of friends, people I’ve known since high school and college, a group that used to ski, camp and hike together, are now fractured because some of them supported Hillary and some supported Trump.

I’m looking for a candidate who has the ability to unite both parties and start healing our needlessly divided nation.