There's buzz today about Oprah's announcement that Sarah Palin will appear on her show on November 16, the day before Palin's much-ballyhooed autobiography hits the shelves. No question this qualifies as must-see TV. I cannot think of the last time two such terrifying cult figures came lipstick-to-lipstick on the small screen. Maybe never.
Also no question this is a brilliant move on Oprah's part. Last year she suffered some of her lowest ratings ever, and, while the drop may not have been driven primarily by her virgin foray into big-p politics, it couldn't have helped: Oprah's biggest pool of viewers are white women over the age of 55--and older white folks weren't exactly Obama's demographic sweet spot.
More broadly, Oprah already divides America roughly in half along gender lines. (More than three-quarters of her audience is female.) Drawing all women inside her comforting apron (while taking aim at badly behaving men) is key to her whole glamorous-yet-relatable-big-sister schtick. If she starts mucking around in partisan politics, she's going to wind up too polarizing to continue her march toward world domination.
I'm setting my DVR now.