‘At a certain point you have to decide.’ What’s left when you’re out of the debates?
Jerry Thomas, of Winston-Salem, clutched a microphone. In front of him, Democratic presidential hopeful Marianne Williamson sat in a gray chair on a stage in the Pampered Beauty School of Nails in Rock Hill. Nail polish was scattered on tables and on shelves in the room.
Williamson, a self-help author and lecturer, had just finished a discussion with local faith leaders on the role of religion in public policy. About a month earlier, Democratic presidential candidate and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg had a similar discussion with faith leaders on the same stage.
Thomas, who wore a U.S. Navy hat, cleared his throat.
“I’m just saying a video of this should go viral,” Thomas said.
Williamson laughed. The crowd of about 40 stood and cheered. “Let’s make it happen,” a woman shouted.
“But my question — what does it take for you now to get on the next debate stage?”
Williamson, who hasn’t qualified for a debate since July, jumped in. She’s polling around 1% in South Carolina.
“First of all, I was on the first two,” she said. “And after the second one, I was the most Googled person in 49 states and there was a lot of attention given to my candidacy. And three days later, the smears began and this narrative that I’m this wacko, crazy lady ... And that took its toll.”
The room was quiet.
“So, what’s the chance of my getting back on?” She said. “The chance of my getting back on is not very good because they just keep bringing the bar so high, and at a certain point you have to decide. I had to decide — well, do I spend whatever money I have to try to get back on the stage or do I spend whatever money I have even to have a campaign?”
Williamson continued.
“I mean, the truth of the matter is, none of that matters,” she said. “It really only matters what the people in Iowa, and Nevada and New Hampshire, and South Carolina say. That’s really the truth. And so, I want to stay in so the people can weigh in.”
Williamson returned to Rock Hill for her third event in the area in recent months. She made her message clear: the country needs to make a dramatic change.
‘Everything I’m saying is common sense’
“They keep saying the economy’s doing well,” she said. “How can you say the economy is doing well when 93 million people live in near poverty? How can you call this good? Don’t you call it good when 13 million children are hungry. Don’t you call it good when 12,000 children starve on this planet every single day.”
Williamson said if elected, she would create a cabinet-level U.S. Department of Children and Youth. The department would be responsible for working with different government entities that affect children’s lives.
“I believe that public policy should be built around one core principle — what would help people thrive,” she said.
She said she would also create a Department of Peace, which would work with every government branch on policy related to both international and domestic peace issues.
“If this sounds radical to anybody that shows what trouble we’re in,” she said.
The crowd erupted with claps.
“That shows what trouble we’re in because everything I’m saying is common sense. Feed the children. Give everyone a fair shot. Save the planet. There might be a possibility of peace on Earth some day.”
‘America’s most important ally is humanity’
Williamson said the country needs to improve its foreign relations.
“My father was an immigration lawyer, and he used to show us the globe — the kind of globe that would not have the national boundaries,” Williamson said. “And you see such a different planet. He said, ‘See, kids, God didn’t draw a line between the United States and Mexico. God didn’t draw a line between France and Spain. God didn’t draw those lines. We did.’”
And as part of improving foreign relations, Williamson said people need to be more kind to each other.
“I think that when we think in terms of loving thy neighbor, the problem isn’t that people don’t take that literally,” she said. “I think the problem is that too many people take it too literally. It’s not enough to just love your neighbor. You also have to love the children of the person at the other side of town, and you also have to love the children of the people on the other side of the world.”
She said Americans have to remember the country’s principle that all men are created equal.
“I know for myself, if you make me president, the world will know that America’s most important ally is humanity itself,” she said. “Because when you look at our foreign policy, it is one of those places where we see the most egregious transgression against our belief that all men are created equal.”
‘Real problem with political party thing’
Williamson said the political party system has hurt the country.
“We are sitting here arguing conservative versus liberal, Democrat versus Republican, while the real opponent of democracy is over on the other side of the room laughing at all of us because the real opponent to democracy is an authoritarian corporatism,” she said.
She said Americans need to make their loyalty to the country rather than to a party.
“I do see a real problem with this whole political party thing, but to me, how I see it is the Democrats and the Republicans are like two broken legs and two broken arms,” she said. “Whereas the agenda of the Trump administration is more like a bullet near the heart.”
Williamson said she is running for president because she wants to stand up for the people.
“I would not abuse power the way someone like our current president, but neither would I be as timid, as Barack Obama was,” she said.
Some in the crowd murmured “Yes.”
“So, while I would not abuse the powers,” Williamson said, “I would be pretty kick-ass with it.”
She smiled. The crowd laughed. Some people whistled.
This story was originally published November 24, 2019 at 9:36 PM.
