So long, Marianne: Williamson suspends long shot Democratic presidential campaign

Marianne Williamson, the self-help guru and former spiritual adviser to Oprah Winfrey, has announced that she is suspending her bid to challenge Joe Biden for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination after a disappointing start to primary season.

Ms Williamson, 71, had said she was determined to offer voters an alternative to a second term for President Biden, 81, but picked up only 5,000 votes in New Hampshire, and then just 2 per cent of the vote in South Carolina, and around 3 per cent in Nevada on Tuesday.

“I hope future candidates will take what works for them, drinking from the well of information we prepared,” she wrote as she announced the end of her campaign.

“My team and I brought to the table some great ideas, and I will take pleasure when I see them live on in campaigns and candidates yet to be created.”

Her departure leaves Minnesota congressman Dean Phillips as the only well-known candidate still in the race to challenge President Biden but with little realistic prospect of success, a situation offering a close parallel to the Republican contest, where Donald Trump is storming to the nomination with only ex-ambassador Nikki Haley left, vainly attempting to stop him.

While President Biden picked up a big win in New Hampshire without even appearing on the ballot paper thanks to a huge grassroots write-in effort and has since chalked up further wins in South Carolina and Nevada, he continues to poll poorly, raising disquiet about his ability to appeal to undecided voters come November.

Ms Williamson, unapologetically eccentric in her public pronouncements, also ran for the Democratic nomination in 2020 and made headlines by calling for a “moral uprising” against Mr Trump’s presidency, warning of the “dark