It was not self-manufactured... it was all given to her by the PC press.
Bovine scat. Love or hate her politics, Oprah draws an audience. Her power begins and ends with that simple fact. When she recommends a book for her "book club," it shoots onto the best-seller charts, even if it was published 40 years ago and was stocked at the back of the bookstore a week before.
Forget your fantasy of the "PC press" that has some sort of secret bankroll to push an agenda. The party line is the bottom line. Oprah's show is syndicated; stations pick it up because it brings eyeballs, and eyeballs bring advertisers, and advertisers bring money.
In the early days, Oprah was basically a Donohue wannabe. As syndicated talk shows raced to the bottom, she went the other direction. Jerry Springer's show in its first season and Oprah Winfrey's show in its first season were roughly comparable; now, they're as different as night and day.
Not everything is political. Oprah is an admirable person, however liberal. Her book club touts books with real literary merit, not "Bridges of Madison County" crap. Her show features a lot of celebrity nonsense and liberal politics, but also worthwhile health and lifestyle advice. It has an audience, and the audience wasn't handed to her. She built it.
Who’s Donahue? ;-)
I’ll concede the fact that her handlers have marketed her very well... there is no question about that. I do think there was media hype that has helped push her along. What I’m getting at is the REASON for all those “eyeballs” on her. I say the emperor has no clothes.