An article recently posted on Politico.com attempts to link Oprah's recent decline in popularity to her endorsement of Barack Obama.

In a poll of Democrats, conducted by ABC News, 82% of respondents stated quite clearly that they would not be affected by Oprah's endorsement. And yet,

Almost instantly, Oprah’s popularity in America plummeted. An August 2007 CBS News poll showed only 61 percent of Americans were favorably disposed to her — a considerable drop of 13 percentage points from a similar survey conducted just seven months prior. An October 2007 Gallup/USA Today poll that showed Oprah with a slightly higher 66 percent favorability still reflected a drop.

The following month, with Clinton still dominating most national and statewide presidential primary polls, Oprah announced on Nov. 26, 2007, that she would go on the stump for Obama. To woo voters in crucial primaries, Oprah made appearances in Iowa, South Carolina and New Hampshire in early December 2007.

The results of a March 26, 2008, AOL Television popularity poll of television hosts reveal Americans may now embrace Ellen DeGeneres over Oprah by a wide margin. Forty-six percent of the 1.35 million people who participated in the poll said the daytime talk show host that “made their day” was Ellen, compared with only 19 percent who chose Oprah. Nearly half (47 percent) said they would rather dine with Ellen, compared with 14 percent who preferred Oprah.

But there's that 82% of Democrats polled that said this decision of hers was of no concern to them at all.

The disparity could possibly be explained away by claiming that Oprah's viewership is largely Republican, and the Democrats who participated in the poll were true to their word, and it is a drop in Republican viewership that explains the fall. But I highly doubt a strong case could be made that Oprah's viewership is largely Republican. In fact, a strong case could be made that it is largely Democratic - made up of those same people who earlier claimed her decision would not affect them.

So what else could possibly explain it?

How about Oprah's recent "coming out" as a New Age Occultic prophetess?

Either a group of people (those in the 82% polled) who claimed her political views would not affect their opinion of her lied, or something else is involved.

Almost perfectly coinciding with her endorsement of Obama, Oprah also began a publicity effort to publicize and endorse New Age nonsense such as "A Course in Miracles", and Eckhart Tolle's new book "The Power of Now."

It's no suprise to me that the Politico.com article makes no mention of this fact. Being unable to see the spiritual forces at work in the world, they can focus only on the political explanation.