Has Oprah chosen race over gender or are Hillary's supporters being sexist?

The Times of London headlines with “Women turn on ‘traitor’ Oprah Winfrey for backing Barack Obama“.

Oprah.com retorts with “Calling Oprah racist = SEXIST“.

Whatever your read on this, America’s biggest talk-show host is paying a huge price to support Obama’s campaign. Her website has been flooded with personal attacks that may have led to her falling away from his campaign before the New Hampshire primary.

While Oprah is being credited with playing a material part in Barack’s win in Iowa, her disappearance may well have contributed to his disappointing showing in New Hampshire and, at a stretch, Nevada.

Women are slamming her for jeopardising their chance of finally getting a woman into the White House because Obama is black. Her supporters in turn are calling Clinton’s supporters sexist, saying that the fact that women have the right to vote means they should be able to vote for whoever they want, not the woman candidate per se.

Fox Television says that this is all being played out against a backdrop where Oprah is in talks with Discovery to launch her own television channel.

A number of questions suggest themselves:

Is Hillary Clinton representing women?

Should women vote for her simply because of her sex?

Is Barack Obama representing African-Americans?

Should they vote for him simply because of his race?

Will Derby County ever win another Premiership League game?

Bet Oprah wishes she’d gone to visit Britney like Dr Phil rather than getting involved in this one. Mind you, even he landed up having a go at Ms Spears and then apologising.

Wonder if a vote for Jacob Zuma instead of Helen Zille would ever be construed as perfidious — can you imagine our ladies expressing their outrage at the ladies of Soweto for daring to vote for a black male over a white woman?

Better yet, what if Condoleezza Rice had run for president? Would Democrats have chosen this Republican African-American woman over John Edwards because she’s a black lady? Sort of your all-round PC candidate.

Will the next ideal candidate for American president (2012) be a blind, deaf, disabled, African-American sex-change with a lisp?

Makes you drink, doesn’t it?