Yesterday The Free Press reported that former presidential candidate Marianne Williamson – who participated in primary contests throughout the country, securing half-a-million votes* and out-performing Joe Biden in certain counties among certain demographics** – was told she could not be part of this week’s Democratic Convention unless she first gave a “full-throated endorsement of Kamala Harris.”
Harris, for her part, did not participate in any primaries but instead was selected by party insiders to be the presumptive presidential nominee after Biden exited the race.
I suppose I’d already figured out the reason for Marianne’s absence from the convention, especially after hearing her say at the end of last week that she hadn’t been invited to be part of it. She is, however, currently in Chicago “at the convention” on the outside, along with thousands of others, many of whom are protesting various issues in efforts to move Harris in a more progressive direction. That all being said, it’s still shocking to now read about her exclusion from being inside the convention in such a stark way.
It’s long been concluded that the Republican Party under Donald Trump has become a cult, yet there’s also a certain “group-think” mentality about the Democratic Party that is deeply disturbing and, quite frankly, on the same continuum as the Republicans. Perhaps that’s just the nature of political parties; that they’re prone to devolving in ways that stifle free-thinking and demand conformity.
On Tuesday, Marianne was interviewed by Neil Cavuto of Fox News who pressed her on the issue of endorsing Harris. I have a lot of respect for Marianne’s response. Indeed, I resonant and agree with it. I mean, it makes total sense to me to hold off on any full-on support of a presidential candidate until he/she has presented their vision for the country and their plans for achieving this vision.
Here is Marianne’s response:
I haven’t done any full-on endorsement of anyone. . . . I’m not totally into all this endorsement mentality. I think this is a very serious time in American history, and people need to think and vote their own conscience. And that’s my endorsement: that people think for themselves.
I understand that the larger opponent is Donald Trump, and I want to vote for the person – and support the person – who will have the best chance of winning in November against Donald Trump. That is where my passion lies, and it has more to do with opposition to Donald Trump than it does, at this point, with support of any other particular candidate.
I hope I will hear things [from Kamala Harris] on Thursday night that make me feel very excited; that make me feel that Kamala does have a vision for the United States and a plan for the next four years that I can full-on support. I’ll be very happy if that happens.
Following is Marianne Williamson’s full interview with Neil Cavuto.
* At one point during the 2024 Democratic presidential primary, Marianne Williamson was doing as well against Biden as Nikki Haley was against Trump.
** Following are some interesting stats compiled by Ryan Costa to do with Marianne’s primary results.
• In the District of Columbia Democratic presidential primary, Biden’s best ward and Marianne’s worst was the wealthiest and whitest. Marianne’s best ward was the poorest. She did better than “Uncommitted” in Black-majority wards.
• In the South Dakota Democratic presidential primary, some of Marianne’s best results and Biden’s worst were in Indigenous counties. In Standing Rock, Marianne got over 20%. This trend of Marianne over-performing with Indigenous voters also occurred in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.
• In North Dakota, Marianne’s best and Boden’s worst Senate districts tend to have the most Indigenous people.
• In New Mexico, Marianne over-performed in Indigenous counties while Biden under-performed. Marianne won over “Uncommitted” in the Indigenous counties.
• In Oklahoma, Marianne’s best results were with Black and Indigenous voters.
• In Arkansas , some of Marianne’s best counties have the most African-Americans.
• In Virginia, Marianne did well with Muslim voters.
• In Illinois, Biden received less votes in Cook County (Chicago) than his statewide average but Marianne matched her statewide average.
• In the Massachusetts Democratic presidential primary, Marianne Williamson was the only candidate who over-performed their statewide average in all 11 original Gateway Cities, demonstrating working-class and minority support, including from Jewish voters.
Progressive Perspectives on the
Presidential Nomination of Kamala Harris
Related Off-site Links:
Marianne Williamson: My 2024 Endorsement Is That People “Think for Themselves” – Your World with Neil Cavuto (August 20, 2024).
The Democrats Are Having a Convention About Nothing – Peter Savodnik (The New Press, August 22, 2024).
If You’re Looking for Democracy in Chicago, You’ll Find It in the Streets – Iman Jodeh (The Hill via Common Dreams, August 22, 2024).
Palestinian Exclusion Shows the Limits of Kamala Harris’s Politics of Joy – Jeet Heer (The Nation, August 22, 2024).
Harris and the Dems Still Have a Chance to Correct Course on Gaza – Brett Wilkins (Common Dreams, August 20, 2024).
Progressives Back Harris Plan to Raise Taxes on Billionaires – Brett Wilkins (Common Dreams, August 22, 2024).
On DNC Sidelines, Progressives Push Democrats to Fight for the Working Class – Jessica Corbett (Common Dreams, August 21, 2024).
How Long Can Kamala Harris Avoid the Press? – The Editors (The Free Press, August 21, 2024).
Vice President Harris, Here’s How You Can Earn Our Votes – Eman Abdelhadi (Common Dreams, August 20, 2024).
Kamala Harris and the Misalignment with Black Voter Expectations – ElleBeah LB (ElleBeah’s Substack, August 14, 2024).
Kamala Harris and the Election of Laughter and Forgetting – Eli Lake (The Free Press, August 10, 2024).
UPDATES: Political Establishment is “Resisting” Americans Having a “Deeper Conversation” Says Marianne Williamson – America Reports (August 23, 2024).
Marianne Williamson: The Left Needs to Toughen Up for the Long Haul – Status Coup News (August 25, 2024).
The Public Sphere Has Disappeared in a Massive Upward Transfer of Wealth – Marianne Williamson (Newsweek, August 25, 2024).
The Horror of It All: The Unbearable Tragedy of a War That Does Not End – Marianne Williamson (Transform, September 1, 2024).
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Progressive Perspectives on an American Coronation
• Voices on the Issues That Really Matter
• Active Hope
• Marianne Williamson on ABC News Live – 8/20/24
• History Matters
• John Cusack: Quote of the Day – July 26, 2024
• Memes of the Times
• On This Momentous Day in U.S. Politics, a Visit to the Prayer Tree
• Progressive Perspectives on the Crisis in U.S. Electoral Politics
• Something to Think About – August 15, 2024
• Just Imagine
• Centrist/Corporatist Democrats Have Just Launched “Left Punching” Season
• Marianne Williamson, the Ceasefire Candidate
• Super Tuesday in Minnesota
• Marianne Williamson on ABC News Live – 5/19/24
2 comments:
Political parties were invented for party discipline, very specially the world's oldest one, the US Democratic Party, courtesy of Martin Van Buren and fellow members of the Albany Regency. For the past five decades, the Democrats have been laxer in that regard than the historical case, and that's been part of what has resulted in frustration with its achievements and lack thereof. Social Democrat and Democratic Socialist Parties in other countries have their own not-so-kind party disciplines; they always been too fringe in the USA to possess enduring meaningful power and even influence at the national level and typically the state level, the exception being rare municipal islands and then not necessarily for very long.
The notorious case exception would perhaps be Jasper McLevy of Bridgeport Connecticut - he was not your typical American Socialist of the period, and I don't think he qualifies as a proto libertarian socialist avant la lettre. (My parents and their families were from that city - a manufacturing powerhouse from the 1870s through World War II, thus a big labor city, but also with employers that typically practiced what had by then become classic New England paternalism in dealing with labor - they didn't want unions, but understood that meant offering a fairer deal than employers might otherwise have been inclined to offer).
As an independent, I recognize I don't get a vote in how any political party decides to run itself and that therefore it's highly strange for me to bleat about it. If you want that vote, you must become a member of the party, and be prepared for regular disappointment, because that's what non-niche parties necessarily entail. The major political parties in my state do allow me to choose which party's primary I may vote in, and there are many party people who believe that should not be the case. My first presidential election vote in 1980 was third party, and my last third party presidential election vote was 2004 (the Minnesota third party candidate), but with the deepening chasm that is the current personality cult of Donnie Two Times (say what one will about the Democrats, but they proved not to have that kind of personality cult this time round - Obama and Clinton had gotten some that they didn't merit, so I am modestly pleased to see cold hard calculation replace woo-woo in the party's practice), I wish to register my perduring objection to him and his. I don't feel soiled in the least.
Thanks as always, Percy, for your informed and informative comment.
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