Dark Psychic Forces: Mediaite Goes Behind the Scenes of Marianne Williamson’s Unlikely Debate Triumph

DETROIT — They closed the bar just before midnight, but it didn’t really matter. No further $10-plus booze was needed. None could possibly lift the spirits in this room any higher.

Here, at the Fillmore Theater, were the hardcore fans — the true believers. While you were busy Googling and tweeting about Marianne Williamson, dozens of her biggest supporters partied the night away — reveling in the viral candidate’s improbable success.

The Williamson campaign had organized this gathering just up the block from the site of Tuesday night’s Democratic Debate — which was now well into overtime. Fillmore staffers were getting antsy, looking to close up shop. But there was no way this crowd was going home. Not until the woman of the hour arrived. Not until they got a chance to show her their affection. Their love.

They sang, the worshippers. (And many of them, when surveyed, confirmed they had indeed been part of the congregation at the Renaissance Unity church in nearby Warren, MI when Williamson served as minister in the early 2000s.) First, it was Amazing Grace. Then We Shall Overcome. The hymns were muted, solemn. But that was more a byproduct of the seemingly interminable wait for the candidate, still hard at work in the spin room.

The candidate’s daughter, India Williamson, addressed the gathering.

“I know that I speak for my mother when I say that I’m so grateful, and touched, and honored to see all of you guys here,” India said. “Because that’s what makes a campaign. It’s all of you guys.”

“WE LOVE YOU, INDIA!” One of Marianne’s faithful shouted. And the crowd burst into cheers.

Pink balloons were strewn about the floor, and were periodically kicked as the minutes passed. The supporters seemed to be in shock. Was this really happening? The guest of honor was almost two hours late for her party because she couldn’t escape the spin room. Everyone wanted a piece of her. CNN. ABC. The New York Times. Even Breitbart. They all sought face time with Tuesday night’s star. (A campaign staffer dealt with that last request rather tersely, cooly telling the far-right site’s Joel Pollak “I know who you are” when he made his pitch.)

But most of the requests were accommodated.

“That’s Marianne,” one supporter said. “She loves to talk.”

And so they waited. And they chanted.

“WHO DO WE WANT?”

“MAR-I-ANNE!”

“WHEN DO WE WANT HER?”

“20-20!”

Suddenly — at least to these die-hards — that prospect didn’t seem as crazy as it had just a few hours earlier.

Marianne Williamson got just under nine minutes of speaking time during Tuesday night’s debate, according to The New York Times. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders both received approximately double that amount.

But the self-help guru cashed in on her limited opportunities. Nearly every time she spoke, the crowd responded. First, there was her Seinfeld-ian rant on her opponents taking corporate money.

“[F]or politicians, including my fellow candidates, who themselves have taken tens of thousands — and in some cases, hundreds of thousands — of dollars from these same corporate donors to think that they now have the moral authority to say we’re going to take them on, I don’t think the Democratic Party should be surprised that so many Americans believe yada, yada, yada.”

Then, there was her commentary on the Flint water crisis.

“I lived Grosse Pointe — what happened in Flint would not have happened in Grosse Pointe. This is part of the dark underbelly of American society. The racism, the bigotry, and the entire conversation that we’re having here tonight — if you think any of this wonkiness is going to deal with this dark psychic force of the collectivized hatred that this president is bringing up in this country, then I’m afraid that the Democrats are going to see some very dark days.”

Later, she was challenged by CNN’s Don Lemon on the subject of reparations.

“Ms. Williamson, many of your opponents support a commission to study the issue of reparations for slavery,” Lemon said. “But you are calling for up to $500 billion in financial assistance. What makes you qualified to determine how much is owed in reparations?”

Her reply brought the house down.

“First of all, it’s not $500 billion in financial assistance. It’s $500 billion, $200 billion to $500 billion payment of a debt that is owed. That is what reparations is.

We need some deep truth-telling … We don’t need another commission to look at evidence … It is time for us to simply realize that this country will not heal … so many Americans realize there is an injustice that continues to form a toxicity underneath the surface, an emotional turbulence that only reparations will heal.”

Finally, there was a pointed shot at the moderates on the stage.

“Some people here tonight, I almost wonder why you’re Democrats. You seem to think there’s something wrong about using … the instruments of government to help people. That is what government should do.”

Cut to the spin room — where a candidate written off as a crackpot after last month’s debate was being taken seriously this time around. Yes, there were the goofy viral moments — such as her confiding in a child reporter about a pet cat she once owned who died.

There was also a plum 10-minute segment with Anderson Cooper and panel not long after the debate concluded. (Only Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg scored cushier post-debate CNN timeslots.)

Williamson exchanged pleasantries and kibitzed with the CNN team. She hugged former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm — a longtime Williamson fan who endorsed her 2014 House bid.

Then, she made her case for her highly unorthodox, spirituality-based presidential campaign.

“The political field … talks about [our campaign] like we’re wacky, like we’re crazy,” Williamson told Cooper. “You’ve seen what’s happened. So it’s very difficult to penetrate that field. But the truth of that is, this is how the American people talk today. The political conversation is not the way the American people talk. The American people, things happen. People go to therapy … People go through heartbreak. People lose people to death. People get sick. This conversation — we’re only going to keep it about the symptom, and never about the cause, and only about things on the outside — that is how we got here, Anderson.

The CNN anchor seemed sold.

“This is why you were the most-searched candidate tonight,” Cooper said with a smile. “I know this.”

Finally, just after 12:30 a.m., the conquering heroine arrived at the Fillmore — her whirlwind tour through the spin room at last concluded. The congregation rejoiced — tossing the rapidly-deflating pink balloons in the air.

But instead of soaking in their adulation, Marianne Williamson was looking for some reassurance.

“I think I need to just go all the way with Bernie and Elizabeth with healthcare, right?” Williamson said — just seconds after walking in the door. “Medicare for all, you think?”

The supporters cheered their approval. But Williamson was worried that her comments during the debate could have been interpreted as her having a more moderate position.

“[Someone told me] it could have sounded like I didn’t want Medicare for all at all!”

No! The fans told her. But still, Marianne Williamson was not convinced. Even after a night when cable news bookers and print scribes tripped over themselves trying to get close to her, even after earning raves from the blue checks on Twitter, even after being proclaimed a winner by numerous major outlets, America’s self-help guru needed just a little more love.

“Did I do okay in that conversation?”

Yes, the faithful assured her. She did fine.

***

Joe DePaolo is a Senior Editor for Mediaite

[Photos by Brendan Smialowski / AFP and Justin Sullivan / Getty]