Marianne Williamson, the bestselling author and now Democratic presidential candidate, appears to be gaining ground against President Joe Biden, according to a new poll.
At present, Williamson is the only candidate to declare an intention to run for president in 2024. Even Biden, who is widely expected to seek a second term, has not formally declared his candidacy.
Despite the new poll results, Williamson is not considered a serious candidate for the White House.
Williamson Is a Long-Shot
“Widely viewed as a long-shot candidate,” Newsweek reported, “an initial March poll showed Williamson with low single-digit support against Biden. Notably, the progressive political activist previously sought the Democratic nomination in 2020, along with more than 20 others, but dropped out before the Iowa caucuses. She did, however, gain notable national visibility and has remained a prominent figure within progressive political circles.”
Williamson is hoping that relatively newfound prominence will help make her a contender in the 2024 run. I’m not especially optimistic about Williamson’s chances. Unlike in 2020, when the Democratic field was wide open in the search to oust an incumbent Republican, the 2024 field will most likely feature an incumbent Democrat. And ousting an incumbent president from his party’s ticket in a re-election year is a tall order – especially for a candidate like Williamson, who many view as somewhat nontraditional, or eccentric.
Williamson is going for it regardless – which deserves respect. She has been campaigning for about a month, and it seems the campaign is having a positive effect on her numbers. “A new poll by Echelon Insights shows Williamson backed by a double-digit percentage of likely Democratic primary voters,” Newsweek reported. “The survey, which was conducted from March 27 to 29, showed the long-shot contender with 10 percent of likely Democratic voters saying that they’d “probably” or “definitely” back her, compared to 73 percent who supported Biden.”
The news here is that the new Echelon poll shows Williamson in a better position than the last Echelon poll, conducted from March 3-5. In the early March poll, Williamson “received just 4 percent support and Biden garnered 77 percent.”
Williamson’s Message
In response to the new polling data, Williamson said that she was “grateful that our message is reaching people.”
“A season of repair and a new beginning in America are possible, but not if we keep electing status quo politicians committed to perpetuating the system as it is,” Williamson wrote via email. “If we want universal healthcare, tuition free college, a guaranteed livable wage and other such policies granted to the citizens of every other advanced democracy; if we want to save the planet for our children and grandchildren; then we need to change direction now. We need to get back to a government ‘of the people, by the people, and for the people’ – not ‘of the corporations, by the corporations, and for the corporations.’”
I’m receptive to Williamson’s message. And that Williamson believes there is space in the 2024 campaign for her message says something about President Biden’s agenda. Williamson is drawing attention to something that progressives have long understood – Joe Biden isn’t progressive. Even though the Democratic Party has packaged Biden as a progressive to meet the zeitgeist of the moment, he’s still the guy that helped craft Delaware into a safe haven for corporations, authored the 1994 Crime Bill, and voted for the invasion of Iraq.
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Harrison Kass is the Senior Editor at 19FortyFive. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.
