Republican women boycott Oprah's show over Palin snub

Washington, September 11 : Oprah Winfrey's decision not to have Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin on her show until after the election has not gone down well with the Florida Federation of Republican Women, for the group has launched a boycott against the talk queen's show and magazine. The 58-year-old federation insists that Winfrey should have Palin on her show because the Alaska governor's run is very important for women.

"She is an icon, and set her herself up to be such a women's rights and women's issues person. To have the first vice president of our lifetime on the Republican ticket being a woman and to sit it out regardless of what her personal political beliefs were was disingenuous, we felt," Fox News quoted the group's First Vice President Cindy Graves as telling "Fox and Friends" on Wednesday morning.

Graves, who used to watch "Oprah" and occasionally bought her magazine, said that the federation had been joined by women all over the country since launching the boycott last Saturday.

"People from Southern California, Tennessee, Texas, Colorado, Rhode Island, just about every state in the union. We've also had a tremendous response from Democrats and Independents who are supporting McCain, and Hillary supporters," she said.

When Graves was asked whether the boycott was showing any impact on Winfrey's TV ratings and magazine subscriptions, she said that the talk queen was "keeping that quiet."

Winfrey's company Harpo Productions has refused to comment on the boycott, or to give out ratings information for 'The Oprah Winfrey Show'.

Democrat Barack Obama, whom Winfrey is supporting for president, was on "Oprah" twice before he announced his run for president, in January 2005 and in October 2006.

ANI