We may not be able to convince Oprah to run for president in 2020 (and fair enough, to be honest) but lucky for us, it seems one of her very own spiritual guru is. Marianne Williamson, a self-help teacher, author, activist and entrepreneur has just announced her run for the 2020 Democratic nomination for presidency. And honestly, we’re very excited.
For those unacquainted with Marianne, she is an acclaimed author most widely known for her 1992 New York Times Best Seller A Return To Love- which is credited as one of two books that brought modern self-help techniques to America.
Also, an AIDS activist, she founded the Center for Living in the late 80’s, a place where people living with AIDS could receive therapy, and started the Project Angel Food charity in 1989 to help people with HIV and AIDS. According to Los Angeles Blade, it has given out more than 11 million meals and has expanded into helping different kinds of ailments. Fighting to help people with HIV and AIDS at a time when mainstream politics and religion was silent on the issue, she ammassed a huge gay following and credits ‘gay men in LA’ as giving her her career.
Orchestrating the 2010 conference series, Sister Giant, she also has a history of encouraging women to run for office, having ran herself in 2014 for the U.S. House of Representatives seat in California’s 33rd congressional district. Despite her mass of support from celebrities like Kardashians, Katy Perry, Nicole Richie (to name a few) and Alanis Morrissette recording a song for her campaign, she (predictably, at the time) lost the seat.
Her loss then, somewhat ironically now, was put down to her lack of credibility given her celebrity status and A-list call-sheet of friends. However, with Donald Trump proving that literally anyone with deep pockets and the right connections can become president, her credibility can no longer be questioned solely because of her Hollywood connections. While it’s likely that as a woman she won’t be granted the same privileges, Donald Trump enjoys as a rich, white man, at least any time someone questions her credentials she can look to the incumbent president and it’ll be enough said.
With enough experience of helping real people to list a thousand CV’s, her greatest endorsement actually comes from the one woman we all wish would run against Donald Trump (if he wins the ticket to become the Republican nominee) , Oprah Winfrey. Describing Marianne as a ‘spiritual friend and counsellor’, Marianne has been interviewed by her friend on Oprah’s shows for decades. In fact, Oprah is credited as one of the driving forces behind the success of A Return To Love, buying 1000 copies of the book and experiencing ‘157 individual miracles as a result of reading it,’ according to LA Weekly.
Playing on the book title in her announcement of her campaign run, Marianne said ‘We have to fall in love again with what this country can mean, we need to embrace it, we need to devote ourselves to it, and then bequeath to our children as other generations have done to us.’
While Oprah has stayed silent on her friends run so far, we don’t doubt that her support would go a long way. Besides, who better to lead the US than the woman who counsels Oprah?