Washington, D.C. – Marianne Williamson says she’s not just running a protest campaign.

A spiritual author challenging President Joe Biden Democratic nomination Williamson believes there needs to be someone in the 2024 presidential campaign who will stand up to the growing influence of corporations on the US government.

“And I’m not the kind of woman to keep my mouth shut,” Williamson told Al Jazeera from her home in Washington, DC, earlier this month

Only once in U.S. history has an elected president failed to receive his party’s nomination for a second term. That makes Williamson’s campaign far-fetched. But she remains undeterred. Her campaign is one of two Democratic challenges aimed at thwarting Biden’s nomination as the incumbent president’s poll numbers decline.

While the other Democratic candidate, Dean Phillips, is running on a centrist platform, Williamson is hoping to win over progressives, a growing force in the party.

In a voice at times outraged, Williamson lamented how corporate greed was driving the country — and the Democratic Party — away from its long-held ideals.

“We are now at a point where short-term profit maximization has become America’s core business for large corporations,” she said.

“And this corporatist perspective replaces democratic values, humanitarian values, and the safety, health and well-being of the American people.”

A progressive challenger

Her 2024 platform reflects many of the Democratic priorities outlined by the senator Bernie Sandersone of the best-known progressive voices in the country.

He ran for president twice, in the 2016 and 2020 races, running against Williamson himself in the latter. She eventually dropped out and supported Sanders instead.

Williamson rose to fame in the early 1990s with her bestselling book “A Return to Love” and appearances on a TV talk show hosted by Oprah Winfrey. Later, in 2014, she unsuccessfully ran for Congress as an independent in California.

But with her presidential candidacy, she hopes to make further progress than Sanders on several policy issues.

Williamson, for example, supports a universal health care system, but her plan emphasizes the need for healthier food, water and air, and a less stressful lifestyle, and says the current economic system increases “the likelihood of disease.”

The candidate also wants to establish a peace department to quell violence and address its causes at home and abroad.

Williamson’s almost holistic political approach is underscored by her gentle, guru-like personality. The author’s spirituality has led some to dismiss her candidacy as frivolous. For example, she went viral after saying in a 2019 primary debate that she would “use love” to defeat then-President Donald Trump and his campaign of “fear.”

Williamson is unaware of this reputation. She admits she made “stupid” statements at the debate that she says are “nervous.”

But Williamson said there was a deliberate attempt to exclude her from the 2020 race — a campaign that she said has intensified this time.

“This time it’s a full-on attack: a mischaracterization of my personality, of what I’ve done with my life over the last 40 years. This is strategic. This is targeted,” she told Al Jazeera.

Shortly after Williamson announced her candidacy in March, Politico published an article quoting anonymous former staffers who called the candidate “insulting.” At the time, she dismissed the story as a “hit piece” and refuted its details.

And on Wednesday, Williamson’s campaign suffered another setback when the Massachusetts Democratic Party submitted only Biden’s name for the state’s primary, effectively excluding her from the slate of Democratic candidates.

“There is no wiggle room”

Still, Williamson has drawn some, if limited, momentum. A Quinnipiac University poll last month put her at 12 percent, well behind Biden’s 74 percent.

However, the progressive monthly The Nation noted last month that the polling gap between Williamson and Biden is similar to the gap between Republican rivals Trump and Nikki Haley – although the Democrats’ race receives less attention.

While the gap is still huge, Williamson argues that it deserves more media attention, especially as some polls show Biden trailing Trump in the general election.

Biden, for his part, has brushed aside the polling data. “Anyone running for re-election during this time was in the same position. There’s nothing new about that,” he said when asked about his low approval ratings earlier this year.

Instead, Biden and his allies hoped to focus attention on the U.S. economy, and it shows faster than expected Growth, low unemployment and inflation are slowly coming under control.

However, Williamson said the oft-cited economic data doesn’t tell the whole story. For example, she pointed to a Recent study This shows that 62 percent of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.

She also highlighted the high cost of living for many Americans, which she said is due to cyclical inflation and corporate price gouging.

“For millions of people, it could be the difference between keeping your home or not,” Williamson said. “So for the majority of Americans, there’s no wiggle room.”

It’s Gaza

Democratic voters are also divided over the Biden administration’s support for the war in Gaza. Biden has expressed “unwavering support.” to Israeland pledged to provide billions of dollars in additional aid despite humanitarian concerns about its military deployment.

The Israeli offensive has killed more than 20,000 Palestinians, and Israeli leaders have vowed to continue the war until Hamas is eliminated. The Palestinian group attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 Israelis and capturing hundreds more.

The White House and Pentagon have repeatedly said they are not drawing “red lines” to limit Israel’s ability to use U.S. aid. Meanwhile, Biden continues to reject growing demands for a ceasefire.

Williamson, for her part, called for an end to the fighting, the release of Israeli prisoners and an international push for a broader solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

“I understand that Israel must kill the monster. But this military intervention just feed it,” Williamson said. “There was never a military solution here. And there is currently no military solution.”

Williamson added that while there was “no trivialization of the horror, barbarism and sheer evil of October 7,” Palestinians had suffered under Israeli occupation. Settlement expansion and blockades around their territory.

“I see no solution here other than a ceasefire, the release of hostages and the drafting of an immediate two-state solution,” she told Al Jazeera. “The death of a Palestinian child is no less terrible than the death of an Israeli child.”

Williamson’s position reflects the views of a majority of Democrats. A poll conducted in December by The New York Times and Siena College found that 64 percent of Democratic voters thought Israel should end its military campaign to prevent civilian casualties, even if Hamas had not been “eliminated.”

But Williamson blames outdated worldviews for policymakers’ resistance to a ceasefire.

“The president is stuck in the 20th century – not just here, but in many things. And that’s the problem here,” she said.

Biden has been a staunch supporter of Israel throughout his decades-long political career dating back to the 1970s – a period in which the country was considered a key U.S. ally in the Middle East during the Cold War.

In fact, the president has repeated the same pro-Israel statements over and over again for the past 40 years.

This stance has led many Arab and Muslim Americans to vow not to do so vote for Biden because of his support for the war in the upcoming elections. So what is Williamson’s message to these voters?

“It’s very difficult for me to say that someone should vote for me,” she said. “People should vote their conscience. People should listen to what the candidates have to say, think deep in their own hearts and minds about what they believe is best for their country and the world, and then vote accordingly.”

Asked the US veto Williamson said: “Shameful.” Shameful.”

The Democratic primary begins January 23 in New Hampshire.