Presidential candidate Marianne Williamson skipped graceful stops down the aisles of the two-century-old granite church. He bowed to dozens of supporters as they chanted her name.

The author is the most well-known Democrat on the ballot in New Hampshire on Tuesday, when the nation's first presidential primary is held, and spent much of his adult life in Los Angeles before moving east in 2018. Ta.

Mr. Williamson has never held elected office, but has been nominated in the past. Oprah Winfrey's spiritual guru, the chances of rejecting President Biden's re-nomination are almost zero. Polls show many New Hampshire voters will put Biden on the ballot after Democrats revoke the state's No. 1 national status and chose to make South Carolina the first official primary. There is a possibility that it will not be recorded.

But Williamson's bizarre second White House bid (she also ran in 2020) is a test of a different question: Exactly how many New Hampshire residents are considered frivolous? Would you vote for a woman who is stereotyped as a Californian?

The Texas native's ties to California go back decades. In 1970 she moved to california He attended Pomona College, where he studied theater and philosophy, dropping out after a few years after protesting the Vietnam War. After flying around the country and getting sidetracked by everything, entertainment weekly Dubbed “The Bad Girl and the Good Guy,” she moved to Los Angeles in 1983 and shared an apartment with actress Laura Dern.

Williamson, 71, became a spiritual leader and wrote more than a dozen books. winfrey gets promoted “I have never been more moved by a book than I am by this book.” Millions of people have bought her books, she is beloved by celebrities, and she was the first to perform at Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch in 1991. He officiated at the wedding of Elizabeth Taylor and Larry Fortensky.

Williamson was also active in philanthropic efforts to help people living with HIV and poverty.

She came to believe that the two-party system disenfranchised average voters by favoring the interests of wealthy elites.

Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson (center) cheers from the crowd after speaking at the Interfaith Center for Spiritual Growth on Sunday, September 10, 2023 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. “It's because on an external level it's guaranteed success, but in my heart I feel it's the right thing to do,” Williamson, 71, said in an interview in New York City.

(Jose Juarez/AP)

“The vast majority of Americans are clearly a little to the left of center,” Williamson told the Times in an interview last year. “The problem is that our political system relies more on the short-term interests of corporate donors than on the will of voters themselves. Someone who will perpetuate the system as it is. What we need as president is someone who will destroy that system.”

Williamson's message resonates with a wide variety of people, but especially with those who believe that changing the system begins with changing ourselves. Her followers also include fans of her books, disillusioned Democrats, and former Bernie Sanders supporters.

But there aren't that many voters in New Hampshire.

When she arrived at South Church Unitarian Universalist in Portsmouth this weekend, the seats were filled with roughly as many volunteers as voters.

Orson Maazel drove from rural Virginia to volunteer for the campaign. Wearing a “Destroy Corruption” sweatshirt, she said she was drawn to Mr. Williamson because she is an outsider who doesn't take money from her companies.

“I agree with her that it doesn’t just take the people who got us into climate change and economic chaos to get us out of this system,” Maazel, 35, said. “We need people from outside who are not bought by anyone and have really good character.”

Williamson's words brought tears to the eyes of Nicole Dillon, 47, of Massachusetts. Dillon, who didn't know much about Williamson before the event, said she loves the candidate's message about defending women and children, ending the drug war and fighting climate change.

About 20 minutes after Mr. Williamson's stump speech, Mr. Dillon watched closely as a man approached the stage, took the candidate's hand and quietly thanked him. The 50 or so people sitting in the audience watched in uneasy silence until several security guards approached the man and escorted him off the stage.

“Can you please sit down now?” Williamson said kindly to the man.

He turned around and noticed a crowd in his seat, and appeared surprised as he was ushered into the aisle by a security guard who apologized for the disruption.

“I just stumbled on my birthday,” the security guard who escorted the man out said with a shrug and a laugh. “She draws all kinds of pictures!”

“He was drawn to her truth and light,” Dillon said. “She was so sweet to him, like her mother. She's so maternal. She's going to gather us all in her basket and take care of us.”

Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, second from the right, questions University of Michigan senior Mahi Vyas, 20, on Sunday, September 10, 2023, at the Interfaith Center for Spiritual Growth in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)

(Jose Juarez/AP)

But neither Mr. Dillon nor Mr. Maazel can vote in New Hampshire's primary.

A recent Suffolk University poll found that just 2% of registered Democratic voters in New Hampshire said they planned to vote for Mr. Williamson, compared to 2% who planned to write in Mr. Biden's name. 64% were people.

“She has a point of view that actually reaches a certain percentage of the population. The question is, was that enough to spread nationally?” said New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley. “I don't know anyone who doesn't think she's a good person. She's in it for a good reason. She doesn't seem to be connecting with enough voters to be successful. ”

Perhaps her inability to connect with voters is partly due to her unusual political presence. Williamson peppered his speech with $20 words, book titles and quotes. Her answers to her constituents' questions frequently cited references to books she had read, and sometimes esoteric history lessons.

She repeatedly expressed frustration with the rejection of her campaign by the Democratic National Committee. Biden will be the only Democratic candidate on the ballot in several states, including North Carolina, Florida and Tennessee.

If something happens that prevents the president from running for a second term, “their thinking is; [California Gov.] Gavin Newsom…” she said, catching herself. “I don't know. I don't know any more than the next person knows.”

At the end of the night, tables at the entrance, piled with “Marianne Williamson for President” signs, buttons and stickers, were still full.