Marianne Williamson has continued to make waves for months across America—before audiences large and small, from churches and universities to spiritual centers and soup kitchens—in a demanding schedule of appearances in her tenacious, against-the-odds second run for president.
The best-selling spiritual author and former Oprah Winfrey adviser failed to make the 2020 primary in a wide-open Democratic field.
Now he is running against a sitting president of his own party, and the Democratic establishment has closed ranks behind Joe Biden.
Even some of her most devoted followers doubt she can be elected.
So why is Williamson running? She says it’s the faith she has in herself and the American people.
“The most important things you do in life, not because you’re guaranteed success on some external level, but because you feel in your heart that it’s the right thing to do,” Williamson, 71, said during an interview in New York City .
She admits it has been exhausting at times, not only because of the grueling campaign schedule, but even more so because of the emotional bruises caused by an avalanche of unflattering characterizations.
Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson addresses the crowd at the Interfaith Center for Spiritual Growth, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023.AP
For her, it is “the ultimate challenge to have a tough skin, but a soft and open heart,” she said.
But Williamson worries that negative perceptions will detract from his policy positions, which include financial reparations for African Americans and the creation of a Department of Peace.
“What are the words they use? Crazy, eccentric, glass lady,” she said, listing the names she has been called. “People take a line out of a book, completely out of context. They have certainly done that to me. Plus, you know, they lie.”
Born in Houston to a Jewish family, Judaism remains her core belief and also embraces universal spiritual themes, such as loving one another.
Williamson rose to fame with his popular 1992 book, “A Return to Love.” Oprah, highlighting it on her own site, wrote: “Never has a book moved me more.”
Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, left, listens to questions from Matthew Miller of Detroit.AP
Williamson, the author of more than a dozen titles and known for supporting LGBTQ people, retains a legion of dedicated fans. Millions of people buy her books, attend her lectures, and interact with her on TikTok.
“She is extremely sincere in her beliefs, and even wise in many ways,” said Issac Bailey, a communications professor at Davidson College in North Carolina, who has written about Williamson’s faith and politics. “But she also has a streak that takes her beyond the normal.”
He noted his caution and harsh criticism of government vaccine mandates that emerged during his last campaign. He later said that he supports vaccines.
“I’m a socially middle-of-the-road Jewish woman who goes to the doctor,” she said. “I am not a glass lady. “I understand how important science is.”
Even some of her most devoted followers doubt she can be elected. AP
Williamson entered politics with an unsuccessful independent campaign for Congress in California in 2014, then burst onto the national stage two years later as a vocal supporter of Bernie Sanders’ failed presidential bid.
In 2020, she participated in the race herself. She admits to making what she calls “shameful” comments back then, such as how she would leverage love to defeat former President Donald Trump.
“Once they were able to contextualize them in a way that made me look stupid, there was almost no way to get past the ridicule,” she said.
People may adopt quasi-spiritual language in their private lives, but if it comes from political candidates, it typically doesn’t work well on the campaign trail, said Galen Watts, a professor of sociology and legal studies at the University of Waterloo in Canada.
Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, center, is cheered by the crowd after finishing her talk at the Interfaith Center for Spiritual Growth, AP.
But this is not new territory for Williamson.
For years, she has been criticized by intellectuals who find her theology too superficial, by politicians who mock her ideas, and, more recently, by some former campaign staffers who say she is irascible and just trying to sell more books.
She admits she probably swore more than she should have in her last campaign, but scoffs at the book-selling mockery.
“The way to sell books is to do a book tour, not a presidential campaign,” he said. “The way to sell books in my field is to never mention politics.”
Some have questioned his political inexperience. But she dismisses it: “I reject the idea that only those whose careers have been ensconced in the car that got us into this ditch are the only people we should consider qualified to pull us out of the ditch.”
She announced her candidacy in February and is now arguably the best-known Democrat still challenging Biden for the party’s 2024 presidential nomination.
But recent polls show he is more than 60 percentage points away.
She is beloved by many young people, including José Serna, a 21-year-old at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Serna hopes to stay in the race “because he is shining a light on ideas that young people care about,” including Medicare for all, equal wages and affordable housing.
“While I think Marianne is unlikely to win the nomination, it is not because of her policies,” he said, citing a common complaint from Williamson and his supporters about a lack of media attention.
Marie Griffith, a professor of women’s, gender and sexuality studies at Washington University in St. Louis, says there is a practical reason why Williamson has no chance of winning.
“He has no connection, that I know of, to the Democratic political machine, that is, to the people who raise all the money and make or break the political careers of those who identify as Democrats,” Griffith said.
Williamson sometimes speaks in religious and spiritual terms to describe America as a nation in need of confession and atonement. He is concerned about huge economic inequality and wants to declare a climate emergency.
Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, second from right, answers a question from University of Michigan senior Mahi Vyas.AP
One of his signature policy proposals would have the government pay black citizens reparations for centuries of slavery and discrimination.
She advocated for this in her 1997 book “The Healing of America.” Today, she proposes creating a council of black academic, cultural and political leaders to distribute at least one trillion dollars to black Americans over two decades.
Author and Rabbi Jay Michaelson praised Williamson for raising the issue with other political candidates and for his work during the AIDS crisis, but in 2019 wrote a scathing critique of his presidential bid.
He called her “selfish, deluded and foolish for denigrating science” and said she gives a bad spiritual reputation.
Michaelson, in a recent interview, said he agreed with Williamson “that our spiritual and religious commitments should impact our political lives.”
But she says she will remain a fringe candidate because some of her policy positions are too radical for many.
“Saying ‘We need a politics of love’ without explaining what that is,” he said. “Or that we need a new paradigm, or that we need some kind of revolution, that doesn’t work on Main Street.”
Williamson denies denigrating science and disputes broader criticism of his campaign.
“This idea that I’m not serious: my campaign is the one that talks about one in four Americans living with medical debt. “My campaign is the one that speaks to the fact that most Americans live paycheck to paycheck,” he said.
“My campaign is the most serious campaign.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn