Karl W. Smith, Columnist

I Already Miss Marianne Williamson

Her absence from last night’s debate stage was a loss not just for the Democratic Party but for the nation.

September 13, 2019 at 11:30 AM UTC

Karl W. Smith is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. Previously, he was vice president for federal policy at the Tax Foundation and assistant professor of economics at the University of North Carolina.

Absence makes the opposite party grow fonder.
Photographer: Scott Eisen/Getty Images North America

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Last night’s Democratic presidential debate was the first of the 2020 campaign not to feature Marianne Williamson. It’s unlikely that many Democrats missed her. Her net favorability rating is just above Bill De Blasio’s.

Conservatives feel differently. It’s safe to say that among the Democratic candidates, she is (was? I will hopefully use the present tense here) the right’s favorite. Some of that is undoubtedly trolling; Williamson’s New Agey shtick plays into a certain stereotype of the loopy liberal. But not all of it is trolling.