The current president of the United States, Joe Biden, is running out of rivals in his campaign for the nomination in the Democratic Party primaries. It is normal for voters to close ranks with the president in office and with Biden, despite his low popularity, he is no exception. Biden clearly won the New Hampshire primary, even though he was not even on the ballot, and swept the South Carolina and Nevada primaries, where the second most voted was Marianne Williamson, author of self-help books. The candidate has announced that she is throwing in the towel this Wednesday.
“The other day I read a quote that said that sunsets are proof that endings can be beautiful too. And that's why today, even though the time has come to suspend my campaign for president, I want to say that the beauty and I want all of you who have supported me incredibly on this journey, as donors and supporters, as a team and as volunteers, to also see the beauty. There is a lot we can get out of all this. And that includes knowing that we have done it in a way that we should all be proud of,” Williamson said at the beginning of his retirement video.
Williamson got about 5% of the vote in New Hampshire; 2.1% in South Carolina, and 2.9% in Nevada. He has lasted three rounds, more than in 2020, when he retired before starting the fight. However, he has never had the slightest chance, compared to a Biden who has achieved 64%, 96% and 89% in those same three primaries.
Born in Texas 71 years ago and living in Beverly Hills (California), Williamson is the author of more than a dozen books, was a spiritual advisor to Oprah Winfrey and in 2014 she ran unsuccessfully as an independent candidate for Congress in California. In 2020 she ended her presidential run shortly before the caucus of Iowa, announcing that he did not want to undermine progressive support for Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who was ultimately the last candidate to drop out before Biden secured the nomination.
With Williamson's withdrawal, the only rival even remotely worthy of the name who remains in the campaign is Congressman Dean Philips, who has so far achieved minimal support among the Democratic base. He worked hard in the New Hampshire campaign and there he obtained about 20% of the votes, but then he only had 1.7% in South Carolina and in Nevada he did not even arrive in time to register.
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Biden's nomination therefore advances without obstacles, even though some voices in the party (and voters, according to polls) consider that the president's age and low popularity make him a bad candidate for re-election. Others believe that it is already too late to have that debate and that now the most practical thing is to close ranks around the president before the decisive battle, the presidential vote on November 5. Biden already demonstrated in 2020 the ability to defeat Donald Trump, the most likely Republican candidate. The president also challenged the bad omens in the 2022 legislative elections.
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