Dear Oprah,

You are a living testament to the fact that anything is possible. Your personal story of success is the epitome of the American dream, the notion that anybody who sets their mind to an idea and works hard enough can succeed. Your billions are the result of nothing but self-determination, hard work, and the empire you’ve built from scratch – there were no “small” six-figure loans to help you get started.

Your T.V. show was the highest rated program of its kind for well over twenty years and had a substantial influence on American culture while earning you titles such as the “queen of all media” and “most influential woman in the world”. Your endorsement of Barack Obama was widely considered to have been a decisive factor in the Democratic primaries, some would argue it’s doubtful he would have ever become President without your help. You beat both Superman and Elvis Presley to be named the greatest pop culture icon of all time by VH1. You’ve been awarded the Medal of Freedom, honorary doctorate degrees from Duke and Harvard, and picked up 47 Emmy Awards along the way (that’s also 47 more than President-elect Trump ever won, to his great chagrin).

All of this is why, absurd as it might have seemed before this election, I’m begging you to consider running for President in 2020. Don’t get me wrong, I know there are plenty of obstacles and considerations you’d have to make that I’m probably not even aware of, so I understand it wouldn’t be fair to ask anything more of you than to just consider it. Please at least set up an exploratory committee though, you’ve got the resources and I have a feeling you’d be surprised by how well you end up polling and performing in focus groups. I know you probably never imagined yourself running for public office, but this might be one of those times where, as J.F.K. said, you must ask “not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”

If there was one thing that 2016 proved, it’s that personality beats policy. Upsetting as that might be for those of us who study policy and follow politics, it appears to be our new, inescapable hyper-reality. Some pundits have been calling it the “post-fact” world, but I think that misses the point a bit. I hold out some hope for facts, I don’t think our electorate is necessarily averse to them, we’ve just been a bit emotional lately. People might prioritize personality, but they’ll still eat their vegetables as long as they’re packaged right. That’s why Democrats need someone with the right personality to deliver their message, perhaps a political outsider with decades of experience in the media, someone with the talent and energy to connect with audiences and stir up huge crowds.

From income inequality to mass incarceration, with the effects of climate change looming and international alliances crumbling, countless issues were not adequately addressed this election. By the time the next Democratic primaries roll around, voters will be chomping at the bit for a candidate with the ability to both diagnose the issues facing our nation as well as prescribe clear solutions. We need a candidate who can be a cultural leader as well as an ideological one, and I can’t think of anyone that fits the bill more perfectly than you.

Now since you probably have a more practical perspective on just how great the responsibilities of the office would be, you might be more hesitant to consider running – if not because of how strenuous the campaign would be, out of recognition for the enormous responsibility assumed by U.S. Presidents. You probably feel like you might be out of your depth as the commander-in-chief of our armed forces, any rational person would feel that way, but in a sense the recognition of your own inexperience might be what sets you up to do the job best. Bringing a certain sort of “Socratic ignorance” as it were, an awareness of what you don’t know, might just be the best way to accomplish the seemingly impossible. Plus, it probably helps that you have the attention span to read entire books, meaning you’d have no problem digesting the thick briefings full of crucial information the President’s staff put together so that they can make the most informed decisions possible.

Twelve seasons into your show, you admitted that you were burnt-out and considered quitting. However, you ultimately decided that it would be almost an abdication of your responsibility to give up what you called a “blessed opportunity to speak to people, to influence them in ways that can make a difference in their lives, and to just use that.” Well now I’m arguing that if there’s ever a time to use that ability to speak to people, to influence them, this is it. You might feel like this is an insane proposition, but just remember how we all felt when Trump first descended down that escalator to rant about globalization and immigrants. The game has been changed forever, for better or worse, and you might be our only hope Oprah.

Sincerely,

Jake Thornhill