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Marianne Williamson to Run for DNC Chair to Make Dems ‘A Party That Listens More’

On Christmas Day, author and politician Marianne Williamson announced her candidacy for chair of the Democratic National Committee.
Williamson is perhaps best known for her two long-shot Democratic presidential candidacies in 2020 and 2024. However, she’s also been the leader of the Church of Today, an author of self-help books and was Oprah Winfrey’s “spiritual advisor,” according to Vox.
Williamson announced her run for DNC chair on her Substack newsletter, where she urged members of the DNC to sign a petition backing her.
READ MORE: More Than a Quarter of Democrats Are Undecided in 2024 Presidential Race: Poll
“President Trump has ushered in an age of political theatre – a collective adrenaline rush that has enabled him to not only move masses of people into his camp but also masses of people away from ours. It does not serve us to underestimate the historic nature of what he has achieved,” she wrote.
“In fact, it’s important that we recognize the psychological and emotional dimensions of Trump’s appeal. We need to understand it to create the energy to counter it. MAGA is a distinctly 21st century political movement and it will not be defeated by a 20th century tool kit,” Williamson continued.
She argues that her two presidential runs allowed her to speak with many different communities of voters across the United States. She says she’s “witnessed up close the fraying bonds of affection between the party and the working people,” and says it’s time to create “a new party.”
Her vision of the Democratic party is “A party that listens more, and makes people feel that their thoughts and feelings are as important as their wallets,” with an emphasis on serving the working class.
Williamson is progressive, with a platform calling for free college and preschool, “medicare for all,” and $100 billion to be paid in reparations for slavery. However, she has not proven popular in elections, typically receiving between 2-3% in primaries.
She can be a polarizing figure. While her progressive polices have earned her fans, critics have slammed her views on health care. She’s previously said vaccinations and antidepressants “can literally kill people,” according to Vox. In one of her books, she said “sickness is an illusion and does not exist” and called cancer and AIDS “physical manifestations of a psychic scream.”
But while Williamson has a friendly, new-age sort of public persona—the sort of person who urges people watching the 2020 Democratic debates to do yoga instead of playing a drinking game—there are reports of her being difficult to work for. Former staffers on her 2020 presidential campaign said she was prone to “foaming, spitting, uncontrollable rage,” according to Politico. She has denied these allegations, saying those who speak out against her are “trying to score points with the political establishment by smearing me.”
Image by Gage Skidmore, used via Creative Commons license.
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