The weather is starting to change, but a different type of season is also taking shape in the Granite State: election season.
Author and 2024 presidential candidate Marianne Williamson took to the lectern in the Alumni Center’s Norma Walker Hall on April 16 to lay out her presidential platform, as well as to answer questions from the audience.
Following an introduction by KSC Accreditation and Assessment Officer and American Democracy Project coordinator Kimberly Schmidl-Gagne, Williamson spoke on the importance of early primary states. “It is clear that the people in the primary states know their power… you know that the vote you make will affect the conversation that dominates the election,” Williamson said.
Among the policies listed on Williamson’s 2024 campaign website include support for a singlepayer healthcare system, eliminating the sale of assault rifles and codifying abortion protections into law. During the remarks, Williamson looked to position herself as a progressive outsider in the Democratic party, and noted her differences with incumbent President Joe Biden.
“We’re supposed to say only those with decades of experience in the car that drove us into this ditch should possibly be considered to drive us out of this ditch. I’m not here because I have experience in that system, but I do believe I’m experienced enough to help disrupt that system,” Williamson remarked.
The 2024 Democratic presidential primary in New Hampshire has been the center of controversy in recent months, as the Democratic National Convention (DNC) modified its primary calendar in early February. The changes made by the DNC shifted the New Hampshire and Nevada primary to be held three days after the South Carolina primary. The modified calendar conflicts with New Hampshire state law, which states that the state’s primary must be held seven days before any other presidential primary.
The New Hampshire state director for Williamson’s campaign, Carlson Cardona, said that Williamson supports keeping the state’s ‘first in the nation’ status. “I think it’s unfair the treatment that New Hampshire has been getting… Marianne has been a staunch advocate to continue that tradition,” Cardona said.
In a primary that has yet to see Biden officially announce his candidacy, Cardona explained Williamson’s differences to Biden. “The differences between Joe Biden and Marianne are huge, especially when it comes to climate change,” Cardona said, referencing Williamson’s support of The Green New Deal, a bill that calls for increased renewable energy investment.
Additionally, Cardona said that Biden’s decision to run won’t affect how Williamson’s team approaches campaigning. “It doesn’t matter who’s running, I’m strongly behind Marianne… I had endorsed Bernie Sanders last time, I was a surrogate for him, and I look forward to working just as hard for Marianne Williamson this time around,” he explained.
Cardona also noted the importance of candidate outreach to college students. “I think students should be taken seriously, you’re a part of the society, you’re of voting age… to me it’s very important that candidates take students very seriously,” he said.
Among the attendees at the event was 22-year-old Katie Lynn, a 2022 graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). Lynn said she found Williamson’s campaign on the social media platform TikTok, and that she was drawn to her progressive policies. “I think that I became more politically active in 2020, because that’s when the pandemic hit, so a lot of us had time to just go onto TikTok and scroll endlessly, and that’s where I learned a lot of things,” Lynn said. “I came all the way out to New Hampshire to listen to Marianne and hear her speak because she has a very uniting message that’s important for all of us to hear.”
Additionally, Lynn noted that she didn’t consider herself a Democrat. “I’m personally an independent and I like to look at things from all sides,” she said, “There’s just a lot of political divide and I think a lot of it is caused by the elite class who want us to be divided.”
Nathan Hope can be contacted at
nhope@kscequinox.com
