Adding Two Names

I'm adding two names to the Potential Democratic Candidates list, Marianne Williamson and Andrew Gillum. Gillum is the Democrat who ran and lost a close election for governor in Florida. I don't know if he's really serious about running for president or not, but I saw, somewhere, that's he's considering it, so I'm putting him on the list.

What about Marianne Williamson? Who's she? She's a spiritual teacher, author and lecturer who's written several best-selling books, including A Return to Love and A Woman's Worth. In the spirit of "if Donald Trump can get elected president, anyone can," she says she's exploring a candidacy for the Democratic nomination. This is from her website, MarianneForAmerica:

Dear Friends,

For the last year I have held within my heart the idea of running for President of the United States. Today, I formed a committee to explore the possibility of seeking the Democratic nomination in 2020.

At a time when fear has been harnessed for political purposes, our task is to turn wisdom and love into a political force. The lower inclinations of human nature cannot be defeated by politics alone, but they can be overridden.

Our political circumstances are not simply a product of external policies, but even more so of internal dynamics like fear, desperation, hope and yearning. The mindset of the current political establishment neither acknowledges nor understands the deeper emotional and psychological rivers that underlie political forces on the move today.

I do.

In order for us to transform the crises we are facing now, we need a candidate whose understanding of our internal landscape is as expert as their understanding of traditional politics. As someone who has had a 35-year career addressing the personal crises of millions of individuals, I feel I have a unique qualification to help create the spiritual awakening that will transform the crisis we are facing now. In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., “We need a quantitative shift in our circumstances as well as a qualitative shift in our souls.” And I have experience with both.

I am sending you this letter and attached video to see whether the combination of politics and awakening that compels me is something that compels you too. If it does, I hope you will help me communicate to people far and wide that my exploratory campaign exists, and do everything you can to help create the material means to support it.

Together we can do great things. We can show up for our country in a way we have never shown up before. And with God’s help, we can create miracles.

With thanks and all best wishes,
Marianne (Click here to visit Marianne's website.) 

Potential Democratic Candidates, in alphabetical order:

1. Joe Biden (Former VP)
2. Michael Bloomberg (Former mayor of New York City)
3. Peter Buttigieg (Mayor of South Bend, Indiana) added Sept. 8
4. Cory Booker (New Jersey senator)
5. Sherrod Brown (Ohio senator)
6. Jerry Brown (Governor of California)
7. Steve Bullock (Governor of Montana)
8. Julian Castro (Former secretary of Housing and Urban Development) 
9. Mark Cuban (Businessman, owner of the Dallas Mavericks)
10. Bill de Blasio (Mayor of New York City)
11. Tulsi Gabbard (Congresswoman from Hawaii) added Sept. 8
12. Eric Garcetti (Mayor of Los Angeles) 
13. Kirsten Gillibrand (New York senator)
14. Andrew Gillum (Former mayor of Tallahassee, FL, 2018 candidate for governor) added Dec. 11
15. Luis Gutierrez (Congressman from Illinois)
16. Kamala Harris (California senator)
17. John Hickenlooper (Governor of Colorado) 
18. Eric Holder (Former Attorney General)
19. Jay Inslee (Governor of Washington)
20. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (Actor) added Nov. 10
21. Tim Kaine (Virginia senator, 2016 VP nominee)
22. Joe Kennedy (Congressman from Massachusetts) added Nov. 10
23. John Kerry (former Secretary of State, 2004 Democratic nominee) added Nov. 10 
24. Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota senator)
25. Mitch Landrieu (Mayor of New Orleans)
26. Terry McAuliffe (Former governor of Virginia)
27. Jeff Merkley (Oregon senator)
28. Seth Moulton (Congressman from Massachusetts) 
29. Chris Murphy (Connecticut senator)
30. Martin O'Malley (Former governor of Maryland, ran in 2016 primaries)
31. Beto O'Rourke (Texas Congressman, running for the U.S. Senate) added Sept. 13
32. Tim Ryan (Congressman from Ohio) added Sept. 8
33. Bernie Sanders (Vermont senator, registered Independent, ran in 2016 primaries)
34. Howard Schultz (Businessman, former CEO of Starbucks)
35. Tom Steyer (Businessman) added Sept. 8
36. Eric Swalwell (Congressman from California) added Nov. 8
37. Mark Warner (Virginia senator) added Nov. 10
38. Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts senator)
39. Marianne Williamson (Author, teacher, spiritual leader) added Dec. 11
40. Mark Zuckerberg (Businessman, founder of Facebook)

Reminder: Not every name on this list is "viable" as a future nominee or president, or even seriously interested in running, necessarily. It's just a list of every name I've ever seen mentioned, anywhere, as someone who might run in 2020.   

Declared Democratic Candidates, in order of their announcement

1. John Delaney (7/28/17) 
2. Andrew Yang (11/6/17) 
3. Richard Ojeda (11/11/18)

I'm Not Running

Oprah Winfrey
Andrew Cuomo
Sheryl Sandberg, added Sept. 8
Jason Kander, added Oct. 17
Robert Iger, added Oct. 22
Michael Avenatti, December 4, 2018
Deval Patrick, December 5, 2018

Days until the presidential election: 692