{"id":30154,"date":"2023-11-25T18:45:19","date_gmt":"2023-11-26T02:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=30154"},"modified":"2023-11-25T18:58:16","modified_gmt":"2023-11-26T02:58:16","slug":"30154","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/11\/25\/30154\/","title":{"rendered":"Marianne Williamson Is Polling Just As Well Against Biden as Nikki Haley Is Against Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

POLITICS<\/a> \/ NOVEMBER 22, 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the media\u2019s obsessed with Haley and paying almost no attention to Williamson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHN NICHOLS<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Democratic
Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson addresses the crowd at the Interfaith Center for Spiritual Growth, Sunday, September 10, 2023, in Ann Arbor, Mich.(Jose Juarez \/ AP)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Former United Nations ambassador and South Carolina governor Nikki Haley is having a moment. Strong debate performances and disciplined campaigning have put her in serious competition for second place in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Haley\u2019s still far behind front-runner Donald Trump, but she\u2019s poised to displace Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as the former president\u2019s most serious competitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the media loves the story. \u201cNikki Haley has momentum,\u201d chirps <\/a>The Washington Post<\/em>, while Politico<\/em> marvels,<\/a> \u201c\u2018The rise is real\u2019: Haley\u2019s breakout is jolting 2024\u2019s undercard race.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what kind of poll numbers has Haley been toting up? In the three most recent national polls, according to the Real Clear Politics survey of surveys, Haley\u2019s at 13 percent<\/a> (NBC News), 11 percent<\/a> (Fox News), and 8 percent<\/a> (Quinnipiac). Not great, perhaps, but better than Haley was doing earlier in the race and better than other \u201ctop\u201d Republican contenders such as Vivek Ramaswamy and Chris Christie. And Haley\u2019s numbers are ticking upward in several other early primary states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So good on political reporters for giving Haley\u2014who hopes to be the first woman nominated for the presidency by the Republican Party\u2014 her due.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current Issue<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

December 11\/18, 2023, Issue<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what about the woman who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination: author and 2020 Democratic contender Marianne Williamson?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the three most recent national polls posted by Real Clear Politics, Williamson is at 12 percent<\/a> (NBC News), 13 percent<\/a> (Fox News) and 12 percent<\/a> (Quinnipiac). Like Trump on the Republican side, President Joe Biden is still far ahead in the race for his party\u2019s nomination. But Williamson has been experiencing her own surge. After languishing in single digits through most of the campaign she launched in February.<\/a> she\u2019s been moving up in the polls this fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the political reporters who are falling over themselves to write about Haley seem to have shown little or no interest in Williamson\u2014despite the fact that, over the past several weeks, she\u2019s been posting numbers that are every bit as strong as Haley\u2019s\u2014and, in some cases, better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019d never know it from the corporate media coverage, but Marianne Williamson is Joe Biden\u2019s stronger Democratic Party challenger by a mile,\u201d says<\/a> Briahna Joy Gray, the host of the Bad Faith<\/em> podcast, who served as national press secretary for the 2020 Bernie Sanders campaign. She points to Williamson\u2019s recent poll numbers and notes that \u201cshe\u2019s still heads above most of the non-Trump Republican field even without having the platform of a debate stage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williamson explains her improved position by saying, \u201cI think any rise in the polls is because my team and I have been out there doing the work, connecting with people, and sharing the message of the campaign.\u201d There\u2019s no doubt that the candidate has been working hard, even if she has not gotten anything akin to the coverage\u2014or the financial support from big donors\u2014that\u2019s enjoyed by Haley and several of the lesser Republican contenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it is also worth noting that Williamson has distinguished herself from Biden by embracing progressive economic and foreign policy positions that appeal to many grassroots Democrats. She supports a single-payer \u201cMedicare for All\u201d healthcare system and an ambitious Economic Bill of Rights; and she\u2019s an ardent advocate for bold responses to the climate crisis, saying, \u201cOur continued reliance on fossil fuels\u2014coal, oil and natural gas\u2014is holding back a new, clean energy revolution that will benefit our economy, environment, and collective public health.\u201d Williamson proposes deep cuts in Pentagon spending, and a new approach to international relations that focuses on diplomacy and peacemaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Biden supported Israel\u2019s bombing of Gaza in the weeks following the October 7 attack on Israeli kibbutzim and a music festival, even as the Palestinian civilian death toll pushed beyond 12,000, Williamson spoke up more than a month ago for a cease-fire in the region. She said, \u201cThe bombing needs to end. The suffering needs to stop.\u201d And she coupled that message with a call for the return of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and for \u201ca brokered two-state solution\u201d that respects the security concerns of Israelis and the right of self-determination for Palestinians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a Qatar-mediated deal<\/a> for a four-day cessation of hostilities in Gaza, which is expected to see the release of 50 Israeli and international captives, as well as roughly 150 Palestinian women and children held in Israeli jails, cease-fire advocacy may no longer seem so bold. But when Williamson took her stand, only a handful of congressional Democrats were doing so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Williamson\u2019s early advocacy on the issue\u2014along with pro-cease-fire statements from two other Democratic contenders who are polling behind her in most surveys, Minnesota US Representative Dean Phillips and The Young Turks<\/em> host Cenk Uygur\u2014was in sync with the Democratic electorate. According to a Reuters\/Ipsos poll released November 15, roughly three-quarters of Democrats supported the idea of a cease-fire\u2014as did half of Republicans. In the latest NBC poll, 51 percent of <\/a>likely Democratic voters signaled that they believed Israel had gone too far in its assault on Gaza, while only 27 percent said they believed Israel\u2019s assault was justified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Polls indicate that Williamson\u2019s strongest support comes from young Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, who have been particularly critical of Biden\u2019s approach to the conflict between Israel and Palestine, and who have been supportive of more ambitious responses to economic inequality, racial injustice and the climate crisis. The Quinnipiac Poll, which questioned 1,574 self-identified registered voters nationwide from November 9-13, found that 26 percent<\/a> of likely voters under age 35 said they preferred Williamson. Among likely voters under age 25, according to a Big Village survey released in early November, 35.5 percent support Williamson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Williamson says she detected higher support among young people well before Gaza became so central an issue, explaining than younger voters rely less on mainstream media and more on social media platforms such as TikTok to get informartion. Additionally, she suggests, Gen Z voters who in many cases weren\u2019t even born in the 20th century \u201cdon\u2019t see why they should (accept) bad economic ideas left over from it. Neither do I, and they see that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Political trends are influenced by all sorts of factors, and that\u2019s undoubtedly the case with Williamson\u2019s jump in the polls\u2014as it is with Haley\u2019s improvement. What should be clear, however, is that is if Nikki Haley\u2019s rise in Republican surveys is a compelling story, then so, too, is Marianne Williamson\u2019s rise in Democratic surveys. <\/p>\n\n\n\n