Oh, I definitely think you should let the misspelling stand, S Lynn Knight . I am reminded of something I once read about those Quaker women who make beautiful, intricate quilts. Their attention was on detail and perfection but before a quilt was finished they always intentionally put in one tiny imperfection so that the quilt would not be 100% perfect and therefore they would not be showing up God with their perfection (or something like that). They were celebrating their humanness and I like that.

Furthermore, since a smooth operator is quite often also a smooth orator, the combining of operator and orator is highly appropriate. You killed two birds with one slingshot, so to speak. I definitely vote to keep the word. Heck, maybe it will even catch on and be adopted into accepted wordology.