CO-04 (Special Election) See Full Big Line

(R) Greg Lopez

(R) Trisha Calvarese

90%

10%

President (To Win Colorado) See Full Big Line

(D) Joe Biden*

(R) Donald Trump

80%

20%↓

CO-01 (Denver) See Full Big Line

(D) Diana DeGette*

90%

CO-02 (Boulder-ish) See Full Big Line

(D) Joe Neguse*

90%

CO-03 (West & Southern CO) See Full Big Line

(D) Adam Frisch

(R) Jeff Hurd

(R) Ron Hanks

40%

30%

20%

CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado) See Full Big Line

(R) Lauren Boebert

(R) Deborah Flora

(R) J. Sonnenberg

30%↑

15%↑

10%↓

CO-05 (Colorado Springs) See Full Big Line

(R) Dave Williams

(R) Jeff Crank

50%↓

50%↑

CO-06 (Aurora) See Full Big Line

(D) Jason Crow*

90%

CO-07 (Jefferson County) See Full Big Line

(D) Brittany Pettersen

85%↑

 

CO-08 (Northern Colo.) See Full Big Line

(D) Yadira Caraveo

(R) Gabe Evans

(R) Janak Joshi

60%↑

35%↓

30%↑

State Senate Majority See Full Big Line

DEMOCRATS

REPUBLICANS

80%

20%

State House Majority See Full Big Line

DEMOCRATS

REPUBLICANS

95%

5%

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
January 21, 2020 10:01 AM UTC

Marianne Williamson: Romanoff For Senate

  • 22 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

Yesterday, former Democratic minor presidential candidate Marianne Williamson offered her glowing endorsement to Andrew Romanoff, who is running an underdog primary bid against the generally presumed Democratic nominee in Colorado’s U.S. Senate race former Gov. John Hickenlooper. Romanoff responded later yesterday evening that he is “deeply grateful” for Williamson’s support.

Marianne Williamson was generally regarded as a curiosity in the early stages of the Democratic presidential primary, mostly due to the fact that she was never considered a serious contender in the race. But had Williamson managed to gain more than fringe traction in the primary, there was a long list of problematic past statements on very serious issues she would have had to answer for–as CNN reported last August:

Democratic presidential candidate and author Marianne Williamson once gave a platform to the unfounded theory that vaccines are linked to autism and called on her audience to “be awake” and “do your due diligence” before making the decision to vaccinate their children. [Pols emphasis]

In a January 2012 episode of her radio show, “Living Miracuously,” reviewed by CNN’s KFile, Williamson said she “agonized” as a mother over the decision to vaccinate her children and that she could see “both sides” of the issue. Her guest, author Gwen Olsen, said on the program that she knew a number of people who were vaccinated and were later diagnosed with autism, to which Williamson responded, “Yes, absolutely.”

And Vox’s Zack Beauchamp explored substantially more troubling comments from Williamson last July on the particular subject of mental health. Apropos, Romanoff is the immediate past President and CEO of Mental Health Colorado:

Williamson has repeatedly cast doubt on the idea that clinical depression is real, calling the idea “such a scam” in an interview with actor Russell Brand and labeled antidepressants harmful, a cause of suicide rather than a cure for it. [Pols emphasis]

Williamson has apologized for the “scam” comment and tried to walk back some of the more heated tweets. She also argued that her issue is not with using antidepressants per se, which she claims to at times support, but rather with their overprescription of them.

But her rhetoric has for some time gone way beyond such reasonable concerns in a way that makes her walkbacks ring hollow. She has argued that antidepressants are often actively harmful, suggested that they caused Robin Williams and Kate Spade to kill themselves (there’s no evidence for either claim), and has insinuated that Big Pharma is pushing antidepressants on Americans who don’t need them.

There is of course debate over the widespread prescription of antidepressant drugs in this country, but responsible participants in that debate agree it’s very bad to make these kinds of sweeping statements about such a complex subject. It’s even worse to make statements with an air of authority that have no factual basis whatsoever, like false claims about high-profile tragedies, and it’s worst of all when people suffering from mental illness hear these misguided statements and take them to heart.

If by this point you have realized that Romanoff just made a big mistake in celebrating Marianne Williamson’s endorsement–assuming charitably that Romanoff didn’t ask for it–we can only agree. For a campaign already struggling for legitimacy against the growing nationwide presumption that there is no meaningful Democratic primary in the Colorado U.S. Senate race, this backfire of an endorsement only pushes Romanoff closer to his own minor candidate status.

Tweet
Share

Comments

22 thoughts on “Marianne Williamson: Romanoff For Senate”

  6. Sorry you guys are so "in for Hick."  He's so disappointing in so many ways. We could have a great senator, but you guys have just settled for so-so.

    Even in 2010, Pols was anti-Romanoff.  Look what we go a milque-toast senator in Bennet.  Who for some reason thinks he's presidential material…the only people who seem to agree with him on that aren't here in Colorado where we know him.

    1. I am so in for winning.
      If the D's regain a Senate majority, that would be good for advising and consenting and all kinds of legislation.
      If it means incrementalism toward  greatness – sign me up.

       

  8. Williamson endorsing Romanoff encouraged me to go to Romanoff’s campaign site and check who else was endorsing him.  In the section “State & Federal,” there is an extensive list of 60 (and Williamson is not on it yet). I read through and saw one federal office holder among in the list:  Former Representative John Salazar. 

    Other coverage I stumbled across was Bernie Sanders saying he was not going to endorse in the primary.

    So far, none of the strong environmentalists among co-sponsors of the Green New Deal is jumping in.  None of the House and Senate members who co-sponsor Medicare for All.  Those folks are not endorsing other candidates, either. What do they have to lose? 

    2. Romanoff obviously asked for this endorsement. Williamson uses Romanoff's "progressive champion" tagline and his exact message. And he's "deeply grateful" for her support? That's a mutual admiration society if I've ever seen one.

      Nope. Romanoff owns this. Sorry.

    1. I would type slowly if I thought it would help, but here goes:
       

      John Salazar believes that Andrew Romanoff would be able to win over the incumbent and would be a best choice to be a Colorado Senator.

      You want more detail – I strongly recommend you contact Mr. Salazar and inquire.

  12. Wow. I wasn't expecting this level of vitriol over this endorsement. I think Williamson is a bit of a whack-a-doodle, but she did get enough money and enough polling success to make it to the debate stage in the first place. She raised money because "new age" women, or whatever the spiritualists who adore Oprah call themselves these days, supported her. (I'm 71 and culturally illiterate.) I have a good friend in NM who is politically active, quite well informed, and a world traveler who shared every one of Williamson's posts. This endorsement could be what Romanoff needs to fill his coffers. 

     

Leave a Comment

Recent Comments


Posts about

Donald Trump
SEE MORE

Posts about

Rep. Lauren Boebert
SEE MORE

Posts about

Rep. Yadira Caraveo
SEE MORE

Posts about

Colorado House
SEE MORE

Posts about

Colorado Senate
SEE MORE

158 readers online now

Newsletter

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay in the loop with regular updates!