Author, activist, and former Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson has joined a growing field of contenders to be the next Chairperson of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the principal executive leadership board of the Democratic Party in the U.S. She is the first woman to join this field, one that includes Ken Martin, Martin O’Malley, Ben Wikler, Nate Snyder, and James Skoufis. In related news, Stoneman Douglas High School shooting survivor and gun control activist David Hogg recently announced that he is running for DNC vice-chair.
Like fellow Democrat Pete Buttigieg, Marianne Williamson isn’t shy about appearing on Fox News, the conservative news and political commentary television channel and website that is a mouthpiece for the Republican Party, just as MSNBC is the mouthpiece for the Democratic Party establishment. And like Buttigieg, she always holds her own.
Following is Marianne Williamson’s appearance yesterday on Fox News where she discussed her bid for DNC chair.
To Democratic National Committee Members,
This year’s election of a DNC Chair feels different than in past years. Before now, the party had faced defeats to be sure. But our playbook still basically worked. The waters were turbulent at times, but our ship was steady.
This year, the party faces a more critical problem than we have ever faced before. The MAGA phenomenon now challenges the very way that politics are done in America, and the traditional tool kit of party organizing will not be enough to meet the moment.
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.
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. Data analysis, fundraising, field organizing, and beefed-up technology – while all are important – will not be enough to prepare the way for Democratic victory in 2024 and beyond.
That’s why I have decided to run for DNC Chair this year. Running for the Democratic nomination for President twice, I have traveled extensively throughout this country speaking with voters. I’ve witnessed up close the fraying bonds of affection between the party and the working people of the United States; I met many who had been traditional Democratic voters yet had lost hope that the party had their back. In the 2024 election, throughout my campaign I warned of a coming electoral disaster if Democrats did not listen more deeply to the pain of people throughout America.
My experience of what went wrong has given me insight into what needs doing to make things right. (See my Manifesto for a Renewed Democratic Party.) As Chairwoman, I will work to reinvent the party from the inside out. For if we want a new President in four years, and a new Congress in two, then we must immediately get about the task of creating a new party.
It will be . . .
• A party that listens more, and makes people feel that their thoughts and feelings are as important as their wallets.
• A party that advocates unequivocally for the working people of the United States.
• A party with the humility to recognize we need to look in the mirror, and be willing to reinvent ourselves.
As DNC Chair, I will not just have a 50-state strategy; I will have a 365 days-of- the-year strategy. We will create ways for the American people to be involved in the political process not only when there’s an election, but all the time. People will know not only what Trump might be doing that transgresses our values, but what Democrats are doing – all around the country – to promote them!
We won’t just fight; we will inspire. We will create a surge of patriotic fervor, and a connectedness of the American heart to the great historical legacy of this country. Our ultimate success will be creating in people’s minds a sense that in order to further that legacy, your smartest move is to vote for Democrats.
And the party will be worthy of that trust.
To DNC members, I hope you will please sign the petition below to get me onto the candidate panels in January. I look forward to contributing to the conversation, hopefully to win the election for Chair and get started right away.
The Republicans will be ready on Day 1. As DNC Chair, I’ll make sure that we are ready to take them on.
Sincerely,
Marianne Williamson
12/28/24 UPDATE: Marianne Williamson on NewsNation . . .
Related Off-site Links:
Who’s Running for DNC Chair? Marianne Williamson Throws Hat in Ring – Monica Sager (Newsweek, December 26, 2024).
Marianne Williamson Discusses Her Bid for DNC Chair – ABC News Live (December 26, 2024).
Marianne Williamson Is Running for DNC Chair – NewsNation (December 26, 2024).
Marianne Williamson on Her Bid to Head the DNC and Reinvent the Party – LA Progressive (December 26, 2024).
UPDATE: Will Marianne Williamson Be the Next DNC Chair? – Don Lemon (Lemon Drop (December 28, 2024).
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Progressive Perspectives on Where Democrats Went Wrong in the 2024 Election
• “A New Chapter of the Democratic Party Needs to Begin”
• What the Republican Party Now Stands For
• The Green Party’s Jill Stein and Butch Ware Give Their First Post-Election Interview
• Neoliberalism vs Neofascism: Cornel West on the State of U.S. Politics
• The Cassandra of U.S. Politics on the “True State of the Union”
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