Marianne Williamson

 I have heard and seen conflicting opinions about Marianne Williamson from friends and in the media, so I decided to try to see for myself what her bid for the Presidency looks like and sounds like in her own words.  I started off with reading one of her books, Healing the Soul of America.

My copy of the book purports to be a revised edition from the original which appeared twenty-three years ago, but most of the content refers to issues and circumstances which now seem in the distant past, with frequent references to people like Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.  Of equal note is a sense of optimism about political change which, in view of the country's rightward tilt, now seems out of touch with reality.

Williamson's generic religiosity is off-putting for a non-believer like me.  However, the values she express include tolerance for differing world views and I'm willing to overlook her philosophical meandering as it does not seem to conflict with her more down-to-earth political orientation.  After all, Joe Biden is a Catholic, though he is is careful not to  try to push that down people's throats.  

Williamson's political orientation is essentially progressive.  She is critical of corporate power and supportive of universal health care and justice/prison reform.  In short, she is very close in regard to most issues to the platform Bernie Sanders put forward in the last election.  In fact,  when Williamson bowed out of the last primary election process, she endorsed the candidacy of the Senator from Vermont.  And, it seems this time around that she has decided to run again mostly because Bernie is not in the race.

It is probably not fair to judge Williamson's potential based mostly on a book she authored two decades ago, but I don't think I have the patience to tackle any of the many additional books she has produced.  I did take a look at her campaign website and it is clear there that she has shifted the emphasis of her proposals to concrete and current political issues.  In public appearances she comes off as thoughtful, intelligent, well informed and articulate.  None of those qualities, unfortunately, seem very helpful to political advancement these days.

Some of Williamson's critics have tried to join her at the hip with Robert Kennedy Jr., asserting that she is a denier of the benefits of vaccines and a conspiracy promoter.  She rejects that criticism, insisting that her position on vaccines is directed at unethical corporate greed in the pharmaceutical industry, and not on the historical efficacy of vaccines or real scientific methodology.

While the establishment's lock on the Democratic Party primary process presents a formidable barrier to Williamson's advancement, she appears to also have some personality deficits which are unhelpful.  Reports of emotional brittleness and verbal abuse of subordinates have gained some credibility following the resignations of top aides and other campaign staff.

I think, taking all of the above into consideration, I might still be willing to vote for Williamson in an alternate reality where the choice was between her and any of the myriad Republican pretenders.  In the real world, though, it ain't going to happen.