It’s probably too good to be true but Marianne Williamson is thinking about another presidential run. Please, let it be so.
Marianne Williamson was a fun addition to the 2020 Democrat presidential primary. In that full stage of presidential candidate wannabes, she was entertaining to watch as I sat through the televised debates. The others were boring in comparison. So, she’s heading to New Hampshire to help her make “a more informed decision” about another run.
It’s as though she is meant to prove the New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair, Ray Buckley, right. He warned national Democrat leaders that the new plan to change up the Democrat primary schedule, denying New Hampshire its first primary in the nation status, will cause an unsanctioned event. It will “create an opening for an insurgent candidate — serious or not — who can garner media attention and capitalize on Granite Stater’s anger about being passed over by [Biden’s] campaign.” Who knows if Williamson’s visit will set that ball rolling but it’s as if she is trying to prove him right.
Williamson would fall into the “not” part of the “serious or not” part of Buckley’s prediction. But she could open the door for other Democrats to jump in if she does. That is exactly what Sleepy Joe is trying to avoid. His team wants to go to South Carolina before New Hampshire so he can get a quick, substantial win in the primary season and potential Democrat challengers will be less likely to get into the primary. If someone like Williamson decides to do it, surely some Democrats who are more likely competitors will go for it. Joe Biden deserves all the competition he gets. No more campaigning from the basement and avoiding reporters. No more campaigns where the most pressing question Biden gets is what flavor of ice cream did he get that day.
In 2020, Williamson dropped out of the race before the Iowa caucuses. She wasn’t alone. So did several others like Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke and Kamala Harris. While she competed, though, she made lots of publicity by uttering phrases like “dark psychic force of the collectivized hatred” when she was referring to what the bad orange man had unleashed in the country. She is such a spiritual drama queen it is hard not to be amused. She’s off to New Hampshire because she connected with the people there. She wants to be on the ground talking to people though she has not formally been invited to come.
“New Hampshire is an important state and I had a wonderful time there when I ran before,” Williamson said in a statement Wednesday to The Washington Post. “I felt a deep connection to my New Hampshire supporters and I’m going back in a few weeks to connect with some old friends as well as new ones. I won’t be doing any public talks, but I’ll be on the ground talking to people and it will help me make a more informed decision.”
Williamson said she had not been invited to the state by the New Hampshire Democratic Party, which is embroiled in the heated dispute with Biden advisers and national party leaders over the order of nominating contests next year. The Rules and Bylaws Committee of the national party voted Wednesday to give New Hampshire until June 3 to show it can hold the second primary contest in 2024, on the same day as Nevada and after South Carolina.
She doesn’t need a formal invitation, of course. She’s a free American and can travel around the country as she wishes. I think the Democrat Party just wants to make it clear that they aren’t behind her visit.
Here’s the thing – New Hampshire has a state law that requires the state to hold the first primary in the nation. The secretary of state can move the primary date to accomplish that requirement. New Hampshire Democrats have said they can’t force Republican leaders in the state to change the law. The Democrats have threatened to run an unsanctioned process and the DNC has responded by saying it will not seat any elected delegates from the state nominating convention. The DNC could sanction any candidates who campaign in the state. So, they mean business.
One DNC member said Williamson’s visit to New Hampshire should pressure the state Democrats to find a way to comply with the new calendar. You will be made to conform. The party’s state chair pushed back.
“I think this ought to put even more pressure on the New Hampshire Democratic Party to figure out how to get this done,” Elleithee said. “If I were them I would be very careful right now about giving out the impression that they are opening the doors to challenging the president.”
Buckley pushed back, in a statement on Thursday, saying the state party does not want to see Biden’s reelection jeopardized.
“We have repeatedly warned the DNC that their proposed schedule and sanctions on New Hampshire will undermine President Biden by opening up the door to a primary challenge,” Buckley said. “To date, these warnings have gone completely ignored. It is our hope that they will join us in understanding how much their misguided plan will stoke divisions and that they will work with us to reach a solution.”
Williamson is leaning toward running as a Democrat again instead of as a third party candidate.
“If I run, there are forces within the Democratic Party who would be trying tohttps://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/potential-biden-challenger-marianne-williamson-heads-to-new-hampshire/ar-AA16MaRLme,” said Williamson, who also scheduled an event in the state last October. “I think they will have an easier time invisibilizing me if I run third party. If I do run, and I run as a Democrat, I will be more inconvenient to the people who need to be inconvenienced.”
“Invisibilizing.” Gotta love it. She hasn’t even decided yet, at least not officially, and she’s already creating a commotion. Let the 2024 campaign fun begin.
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