Oprah Winfrey a Lock to Win an Oscar?

In a breathless puff from Roger Friedman of Showbiz411.com, Oprah Winfrey is predicted to win an Oscar for her performance as the White House butler’s wife in the upcoming feature film The Butler starring Forrest Whitaker. Friedman hyperventilates:

Oprah is simply off the charts mesmerizing as Gloria. It’s as if she’d been acting this whole time. (Some will say she has been, but I disagree.) Among the many powerful performances in this landmark movie, Winfrey jumps out because of her long absence from the screen. People in our showing-which was a very good cross-section of black and white, young and old- people were crying through this movie. And Oprah gets a scene stealing Oscar moment that is going to take her right into every awards show. If I had to bet now, I’d say she wins Best Supporting Actress. She’s that good.

Then, to bolster his credibility as a prognosticator, Friedman cites a couple of liberal stalwarts:

And by the way, among the audience were none other than Mike Nichols and Diane Sawyer. Mike gave the movie a hearty thumbs up on the way out. He wasn’t the only one.

The question arises: if Oprah wins the Oscar after not attending Barack Obama’s 2013 inauguration, will Michelle Obama still present it?