Marianne Williamson: 'An authoritarian corporatism threatens to erode our democracy'

Rekha Basu | The Des Moines Register

Marianne Williamson has developed a following of millions over 35 years of teaching and writing about spirituality, the divine and miracles. One indication is her 2.5 million Twitter followers. Now as she explores a presidential run, her challenge could be turning that fan base into political support.

Williamson's videotaped announcement can be seen at MarianneForAmerica.com.

At a house party for her in an upscale Des Moines condo Saturday, Williamson, who now lives in New York, was asked how she planned to bring her spiritual teachings to a campaign. She said she'd defer to tradition that "we keep our political conversations secular," she said. "There are different ways to bring hearts into harmony, but it wouldn't be healthy for me to offer prayer."

Instead, she preceded her talk by a Stevie Wonder song, "Love's in Need of Love Today," sung by veteran Des Moines vocalist Tina Haase Findlay.

This weekend is Williamson's fifth recent trip to Iowa, where she has a campaign staff. I've gotten to know her a bit since she was supporting Bernie Sanders in the last presidential primary. Saturday morning, we sat down for an interview at Zanzibar's.

Here are my questions and her answers, edited for length.

RB: What do you mean when you say you're "exploring" a run?

MW: A successful political campaign is a partnership. Until you find out if you have partners in the effort, you don't really have a campaign.

RB: Why would you want to get involved in the grubby, nasty, deal-making parts of politics?

MW: Politics is not the only place where there's grubbiness and nastiness. Watching what's happening in this country and feeling powerless to do anything is a much uglier prospect than rolling up your sleeves and trying to do something about it.

RB: Describe what you see happening.

MW: Our country is living under the threat of an authoritarian corporatism that is eroding our democracy. It's much bigger than one man. Seeing our challenge as nothing but defeating one man is naive. You can't triumph over anti-democratic practices only through elections. We need to create a massive awakening among the American people and I think that's already happening. Our task is to harness the power of love and dignity and decency in the people.

RB: So what can you do about corporate control of politics?

MW: We're not going to see Citizens United overturned by the Supreme Court any time soon. But there are efforts on a state-by-state basis to push back. (She mentioned the Move to Amend effort to undo the court's ruling allowing corporations to pour money into political campaigns as a form of free speech.) The change has to begin in the minds of the American people. Our government has become a system of legalized bribery. The powers of the U.S. government are more in the service of corporate profits than advocacy on behalf of the American people. There is a culture of economic despair that is unaddressed by the elites on the left and right. Coupled with under-education, it's a prescription for fascism.

RB: Why aren't you running as an independent this time? (In 2014, she ran as an independent for a U.S. House seat representing California.)

MW: I would not risk throwing 10 or 15 votes to the person who is currently in charge. (At the house party later, she said it had been a mistake to run as an independent.)

RB: Where do you think the Democratic Party went wrong in 2016?

MW: The Democratic establishment suppressed democracy. If we had truly allowed the will of the people to reign, I'm not sure we know who would have been the nominee. (An early Sanders supporter, she threw her support to Hillary Clinton after Clinton won the nomination.) It's not a secret that there was an establishment elitism that felt it knew best and tried to suppress the voices of those who disagreed.

RB: Will you not accept corporate PAC money?

MW: That's almost an amusing question. I cannot imagine a situation in which corporate money would want to support me.

RB: So how would you finance your campaign?

MW: My campaign would be supported the way every campaign should be supported, by the will of the people. The money is just an expression of the energy behind it.

RB: Do you expect you'll lose some of your spiritual supporters if you run?

MW: Spirituality is simply the path of the heart. Does God just ask us to be good people or a good nation? Some might think I'm naive to think that a return to democratic values is key to a good economy.

RB: Why do you think you could win?

MW: Americans need to reconsider the word "win." To me, the biggest win is to do what in your heart you think is the right thing to do. If I express, in this campaign, my deepest beliefs, and if the campaign is a container for the highest beliefs and aspirations of the American people, then we win.

RB: Would your lack of political experience be a problem?

MW: We need to get over the myth of the political expert. Whether or not we address the chronic trauma of millions of children who go to schools without functioning toilets is a matter of morals and values. (So is finding) sophisticated, peace-building measures as opposed to military brute force.

RB: Do you think your campaign will attract women inspired by the #MeToo movement?

MW: Where I feel the #MeToo movement is obviously an awakening of the American woman is that women have grown to recognize the significance of sisterhood. That doesn't mean women would necessarily support my candidacy. (But) partly because of the #MeToo movement, there's been a delayed reaction to the misogyny involved in the campaign against Hillary Clinton. A lot of internalized misogyny has been obliterated.

While we were talking, Kellee Byerly, who follows Williamson's work on spirituality, recognized and approached her. "You have a head and a heart and a piercing vocabulary," she told her. "If anyone can bridge the two, it's you."

At the house party, Williamson's talk got good applause, and had a lot of heads nodding. And when someone asked how many in the room would be willing to do phone banking for her, a number of hands shot up.

Rekha Basu is an opinion columnist for The Des Moines Register. Contact: rbasu@dmreg.com Follow her on Twitter @rekhabasu and at Facebook.com/rekha.basu1106. Her book, "Finding Her Voice: A collection of Des Moines Register columns about women's struggles and triumphs in the Midwest," is available at ShopDMRegister.com/FindingHerVoice.