Quest to elect Oprah becomes publicity opera

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Patrick Crowe has been promoting Oprah Winfrey for president for years with no attention from the TV diva.

But when her lawyers finally told him to stop it, they succeeded only in drawing the media spotlight to the retired math teacher in Kansas City.

"It's been fun," Crowe said Thursday morning, unshaven and in his bathrobe at his kitchen table.

He had done one talk-radio interview and was expecting the phone to ring for another. The Independent of London also called.

Their interests were piqued because a law firm representing Winfrey sent Crowe a letter dated Aug. 22 demanding that he remove her picture from his Web site and from a book he is selling for $24.97.

The lawyers also are upset that the campaign's toll-free number translates to OPRAH08. It rings in the home of Crowe's daughter-in-law in San Diego.

The cease-and-desist letter said those activities were copyright and trademark infringements and stated that Winfrey's company, Harpo, "will continue to protect its intellectual property aggressively."

A spokeswoman for Harpo said Winfrey is on the record as saying she has no political aspirations.

But the Web site remained up Friday, and Crowe is undaunted in his belief that Winfrey would win the presidential election and govern wisely if only she decided to run.

He said Winfrey would win consensus in Washington with her charm but added, "This is not the girl you want to mess with. I think she'd be very good at it."