The Wild Reed: July 2024

Progressive presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, who I've come to recognize as the Cassandra of U.S. politics, announced earlier today that she is exiting the Democratic presidential race.

Following (with added links) is Marianne’s statement about this decision that she shared this morning across her various social media platforms.

Saturday was the deadline for filing as a Democrat running against Kamala Harris for the nomination for President. We did everything possible to stand for a blitz primary, an open convention and so forth. Yet the way the rules were made there truly was no way, Kamala’s momentum was in full swing, and all we could have done is create noise.

As I’ve made clear from the beginning, I was in the race to create fundamental change, yes – but not as a chaos agent or metaphorical bomb thrower. Things being what they are – including the fact that defeating Donald Trump has always been and continues to be the goal that most matters – it was time to let go.

To those of you who have contributed to my campaign – as a voter, volunteer, or donor – I salute you and I thank you.

For years I’ve been intrigued by Gandhi’s message that “politics should be sacred.” On both my campaigns for President, I saw things that convinced me it could be that way: people entering the political conversation not only with their heads but with their hearts, not with anger but with love, willing to look beyond artificial divides, honoring the truths of our history, bringing the fullness of themselves to the process, and harnessing all those things for political purposes.

I saw it. I felt it. I know it’s possible.

Ultimately, of course, I did not build the campaign that could achieve it. Some of the responsibility for this lay with others; I never encountered the corruption and lack of ethics I saw lobbed against our campaign. But I take 100 percent responsibility for what we did and did not achieve; if I’d done this or not done that, been smarter here or savvier there, our ship still might have made it to harbor.

What matters most to me now, however, is not what we didn’t achieve but what we did achieve; and we achieved a lot. There were moments too numerous for me to describe where I know without a shadow of a doubt that we shed light in the darkness of confused minds, inspired hope in the spirit of hopeless citizens, and motivated people to get involved and stay involved until justice shall be done.

Staying involved is what I will do, and I’m sure you will as well. Anything we experience can be grist for the mill, and as we transition away from campaigning I will do everything possible to contribute as best I can to the emergence of a better world.

I believe most Americans feel as I do: that America can do better. And one day we will. We’re a nation in process, as we have always been. And while these are very turbulent times they are not without the seeds of a new beginning. Those seeds lay in our hearts, and they will bear fruit if we water and nourish them.

For those of you who are asking, “What should we do now?” the answer is to do whatever is in our hearts. What lies there is not mere symbolic victory. For myself, the more I read about former President Trump’s proposed policies, the more I hear his words and ponder them in my heart, the more I believe our most urgent task now is to make sure he does not return to the White House. That conviction is what will determine my vote on election day.

That which brings likeminded people together in service to a more beautiful world is a significant bond of affection. For the honor shown me this last year by voters, volunteers and donors, my gratitude is as deep as the sea.

– Marianne Williamson
“My Gratitude Is as Deep as the Sea”
Transform
July 29, 2024

I want to take this opportunity to extend my “deep as the sea” gratitude to Marianne. She and her presidential campaign inspired me in powerful ways – both politically and spiritually. It’s an inspiration that lives on.

Right: With Marianne and my friend Kate in New Hampshire – January 20, 2024. For more images and commentary on our time in the Granite State for the “First in the Nation” presidential primary, click here.

Left: With my friend Deandre in the summer of 2023. He also supported Marianne’s 2024 presidential campaign.

I also want to to take this opportunity to reiterate my previous message of appreciation to Marianne.

Thank you, Marianne! . . . Thank you for all you’ve done in running for president. I trust you made a difference . . . and will continue to make a difference; it’s just who you are. You certainly continue to inform and inspire me.

Through your presence, words, and actions on the campaign trail, you not only advanced a much-needed progressive agenda but also embodied the shift in consciousness that I believe the Sacred is calling all of humanity to manifest in and through our individual and communal actions.

It’s a shift that invites all to consciously choose love over and above fear. You remind us, Marianne, that when such a choice is realized in our politics as well as in our individual lives, we will bring to birth in our world an era of justice, peace and healing.

So, again, thank you!

Right: My friend Adnan snapped this picture of me beside my “Marianne 2024” bumper sticker in the summer of 2023. It’s a bumper sticker that remains on my car to this day.

Above: With my friend Kate in New Hampshire, campaigning for Marianne – January 23, 2024. For more images and commentary on our time in the Granite State for the “First in the Nation” presidential primary, click here.

Above and below: More images of Marianne campaigning in New Hampshire in January of this year.

Above: Summer 2023.

Above and right: Bannering for Marianne over Interstate-94 in Saint Paul – January 25, 2024. And, yes, it was bitterly cold out! This was the second bannering I attended organized by Minnesota for Marianne Williamson 2024. For images and commentary on our inaugural bannering, click here.

Above: Super Tuesday in Minnesota – March 5, 2024. For more on Marianne Williamson as the ceasefire candidate in relation to the conflict in Gaza, click here, here, and here.

UPDATE: Some tweets of note in the days and weeks following Marianne’s exiting from the 2024 presidential race . . .