If the Democrats ran on 'America is already great because America is good' in 2016, 2017 gave a deafening answer: No, it is not.
Americans, glued to screens where they read Twitter tantrums and nuclear war provocations from their president, see images of fire and mudslides that make California look postapocalyptic, and read news of yet another sexual misconduct scandal, are desperate for change.
It was impossible to watch the Golden Globes last Sunday and not feel the palpable desire for it. In dress and demeanour, lapel pins and speech, the message was clear: We are mad as hell, and time is up.
That was all before Oprah Winfrey took the stage. With a rousing display of oration not seen since before last November, she electrified the room and inspired a nation to all ask the same question: should Oprah be our next president?
She should not. Before elaborating why, however, it is necessary to agree on a few things: 1. It was a great speech. 2. If she runs, she will win. 3. If she wins, it will be a substantial improvement from our current situation. All of these statements are true. But they are not good enough reasons to cheer for an #Oprah2020 presidential run.
We would not be seriously considering it if the presidency were not currently occupied by Donald J. Trump. Winfrey's appeal will only grow with every tweet Trump makes, every off-the-cuff press conference he holds.
The imagination is reminded of those familiar and distant feelings of joy and pride when considering what a Winfrey administration would look like:
"If you need a good chat and hug, Winfrey is the person. If you need to repair a welfare state that's on life support after sabotage from the Trump administration, you need more than an inspiring message to 'live your best life'."
While Trump reportedly could not read memos longer than a single page, Winfrey will bring back the book club, sending the country back to their local libraries and independent bookstores.
If you thought President Obama's 'Cash for Clunkers' program got the economy going, just wait until 'You get a car! YOU get a car — EVERYBODY gets a car!'
Instead of a long, boring slog of hearings and investigations on C-SPAN, why not a heart-to-heart confessional interview with Winfrey on the couch of the Oval Office for scandal-ridden politicians?
As easy as it is to focus on Trump's personal problems and disqualifications — the lying, the name calling, the ranting — it's essential to remember that he is wrecking political havoc. He is deporting and denying entry to immigrants and migrants; he's slashing taxes for the rich and setting the stage to gut the social safety net to pay for it; and he's threatening a nuclear holocaust with his tweets. This, of course, is the shortlist.
These would have been just as devastating if someone had spoken it with eloquence during the state of the union rather than tweeting with bizarre and deranged syntax and capitalisation. Trump's undesirable personal traits are not nearly as dangerous as his political decisions are.
Winfrey, whatever one thinks of her personal traits, is intentionally apolitical. Even her most political move to date — endorsing Barack Obama for president — was done as apolitically as possible. 'I know him personally,' she told Larry King. She hadn't endorsed any candidate in the past 'because I didn't know anybody well enough to say "I believe in this person".' She did not name any specific policies that roused such a belief.
It is also concerning to speculate on how her belief in personal betterment would affect the poor. Take a conversation with televangelist Pastor Joel Osteen: He tells her, 'I can't be a big blessing to people if I'm poor and broke and depressed,' and Winfrey, nodding approvingly, wonders whether being poor indicates that 'you're not praying enough'. Osteen assures it's not just that they aren't praying enough, but also that they haven't been inspired to break through the forces (which are definitely not political) that hold them down.
If you've had a bad day, and need a good chat and hug, Winfrey is the right person. If you need to repair a welfare state that's on life support after sabotage from the Trump administration and this Republican congress, you need a lot more than an inspiring message to 'live your best life'.
Additionally, even our best presidents are also architects of barbarism: it is Winfrey's hands that will guide drone strikes, her word that could sell unforeseen amounts of weapons and bombs to regimes who are ready to use them or resell to someone who will. Do we really want to do that to Oprah? I fear that the toll taken on the national psyche would be too great to positively think ourselves out of.
Zac Davis is a writer and assistant editor at America magazine, the Jesuit Review, where he cohosts Jesuitical, a podcast for young adult Catholics. Follow him on Twitter @zacdayvis