Stop Trying To Make Marianne Williamson Happen
She's not "having a moment." She's a media creation distraction for ratings, just like Trump.
I understand that Donald Trump won in 2016 and therefore Nobody Knows Anything, but I know this: However diverting Marianne Williamson's debate performance may have been, she will be a non-factor in this race, and we can stop acting as if she's the next black swan in American politics.
Does anyone remember the last round of debates, when she allegedly had a "moment" almost as "compelling" as last night's "moment"? Well, Real Clear Politics says she's getting 0.3% of the Democratic vote. That previous moment didn't do her much good.
The New York Times asked its op-ed writers to score last night's debaters. Maureen Dowd, a terrible judge of human character, gave Williamson a perfect score.
(10/10) — Sneer if you will, but a call for a little spiritual healing is in order in the unspiritual, racist, hate-filled era of Donald Trump. As Jaboukie Young-White, a “Daily Show” correspondent, tweeted, Williamson is about to be the first president to take the oath of office with her hand on a stack of Tarot cards. Debates are about the visceral, and Williamson has that down. Not since Admiral James Stockdale, a fan of the Stoic philosophers, opened the vice presidential debate in 1992 by asking “Who am I, why am I here?” has there been a line as arresting as this one by the philosopher of love: “If you think any of this wonkiness is going to deal with this dark psychic force of the collectivized hatred that this president is bringing up in this country, then I’m afraid that the Democrats are going to see some very dark days.”
I'm old enough to remember that Stockdale moment in the 1992 vice presidential debate (kids: ask your parents). It did not resonate with the public, except as a punch line (although many of us stopped snickering when we learned that Stockdale had been a tortured POW in Vietnam). The dated cultural reference is very on-brand for Dowd, but it tells us nothing about whether Williamson genuinely appeals to voters.
Bret Stephens, of all people, nails it:
(2/10) — She is to this debate what Jimmy "The Rent Is Too Damn High" McMillan was to a past New York City mayoral debate, except McMillan was right.
Exactly. McMillan, with leather gloves and amazing facial hair, ran for both mayor of New York City and governor of New York State based on one core principle: the rent is too damn high.