Ex-Candidate Wants to 'Reinvent the Party'

Marianne Williamson, twice a candidate for the party's presidential nomination, jumped into the race for chair of the Democratic National Committee on Thursday, saying the usual politics and methods won't bring victory. "I feel that I can help transform the party, reinvent the party, because the politics of the past will not be enough to take on the politics of the present and the future," she said in a Substack video, per Politico. "Donald Trump is a 21st century political phenomenon, and we need to become one, too."

The Democratic Party is down after the November elections, and Williamson said her "experience of what went wrong has given me insight into what needs doing to make things right," per the Hill. The self-help author's candidacy breaks up an all-male field that includes New York state Sen. James Skoufis, Minnesota Democratic Party Chair Ken Martin, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, and former Homeland Security official Nate Snyder. The election is scheduled for Feb. 1 during the party's meeting at National Harbor, Maryland. Four forums are scheduled for next month by the DNC at which the candidates will campaign before the committee. (More Marianne Williamson stories.)