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Marianne Williamson has kept barnstorming for months across America — to audiences large and small, from churches and colleges to spiritual centers and soup kitchens — in a demanding schedule of appearances in her second tenacious, against-the-odds run for the presidency.

The bestselling spiritual author and one-time advisor to Oprah Winfrey didn’t make it to the 2020 primaries in a wide-open Democratic field. Now she is running against a sitting president from her own party, and the Democratic establishment has closed ranks behind Joe Biden.

Even some of her most devoted followers doubt she can be elected. So why is Williamson even running? She says it’s the faith she has in herself and the American people.

“The most important things you do in life, not because there’s guaranteed success on some external level, but because you feel in your heart it’s the right thing to do,” Williamson, 71, said during an interview in New York City.

She admits it has been grueling at times — not just the punishing campaign schedule, but more so the emotional bruising from a barrage of unflattering characterizations.

For her, it’s “the ultimate challenge to have tough skin, but a soft and open heart,” she said. But Williamson worries that negative perceptions detract from her policy positions, which include financial reparations for Black Americans and creation of a Department of Peace.

“What are the words they use? Wacky, kooky, crystal lady,” she said, listing the names she’s called. “People will take one line out of a book, completely out of context. That has certainly been done to me. Plus, you know, they lie.”

Born in Houston to a Jewish family, Judaism remains her core belief, and she also embraces universal spiritual themes, like loving one another. Williamson came into the spotlight with her popular 1992 book, “A Return to Love.” Oprah, highlighting it on her own site, wrote: “I have never been more moved by a book.”

Williamson, the author of more than a dozen titles and well-known for supporting LGBTQ people, retains a legion of dedicated fans. Millions buy her books, attend her lectures and engage with her on TikTok.

“She is extremely sincere in her beliefs, wise in many ways even,” said Issac Bailey, a communications professor at Davidson College in North Carolina who has written about Williamson’s faith and politics. “But she also has a streak that takes her beyond the pale.”

He pointed to her wariness and sharp criticism of government vaccine mandates that came up during her last campaign. She later said she supports vaccines.

“I’m a socially middle of the road Jew who goes to the doctor,” she said. “I’m not a crystal lady. I understand how important science is.”

Williamson entered politics with an unsuccessful independent congressional campaign in California in 2014, then broke onto the national stage two years later as a vocal supporter of Bernie Sanders’ failed presidential bid.

In 2020, she entered the race herself. She acknowledges making what she calls “cringeworthy” comments back then, like how she would harness love to defeat former President Donald Trump.

“Once they could be contextualized in a way that made me appear silly, there was almost no getting past the mockery,” she said.

People may embrace quasi-spiritual language in their private lives, but if it’s from political candidates, it typically doesn’t play well on the campaign trail, said Galen Watts, a sociology and legal studies professor at the University of Waterloo in Canada.

But this is not new territory for Williamson. For years, she has been under fire from intellectuals who call her theology too shallow, from politicians who mock her ideas, and more recently from some former campaign staff who say she’s irascible and is only trying to sell more books. She concedes that she probably swore more than she should have in her last campaign, but scoffs at the book-selling gibe.

“The way to sell books is by going on a book tour, not a presidential campaign,” she said. “The way to sell books in my field is to never mention politics.”

Some have questioned her political inexperience. But she dismisses that: “I reject the notion that only those whose careers have been ensconced in the car that drove us into this ditch are the only people we should consider qualified to drive us out of the ditch.”

She announced her candidacy in February, and now is arguably the best-known Democrat still challenging Biden for the party’s 2024 presidential nomination. But recent polls show her running more than 60 percentage points behind.

She is well-liked by many young people, including Jose Serna, a 21-year-old at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Serna hopes she stays in the race “because she is illuminating the ideas that young people care about” including Medicare for all, equitable wages and affordable housing.

“While I do believe that it is unlikely that Marianne will win the nomination, it is not because of her policies,” he said, citing a common complaint by Williamson and her backers about a lack of media attention.

Marie Griffith, a professor of women, gender and sexuality studies at Washington University in St. Louis, says there’s a practical reason why Williamson stands no chance of winning.

“She has no connection that I know of to Democratic machine politics — meaning the people who raise all the money and make or break the political careers of those identifying as Democrats,” Griffith said.

Williamson talks at times in religious and spiritual terms to describe America as a nation in need of confession and atonement. She worries about vast economic inequality and wants to declare a climate emergency.

One of her signature policy proposals would have the government pay Black citizens reparations for centuries of enslavement and discrimination. She advocated for this in her 1997 book “The Healing of America.” Today, she proposes creating a council of Black academic, cultural and political leaders to disperse at least $1 trillion to Black Americans over two decades.

Author and rabbi Jay Michaelson lauded Williamson for raising the issue before other political candidates, and for her work during the AIDS crisis, but in 2019 he wrote a scathing critique of her bid for president. He called her “selfish, deluded and dumb by denigrating science” and said she gives spiritually a bad name.

Michaelson, in a recent interview, said he agreed with Williamson “that our spiritual commitments and our religious commitments should impact our political lives.” But he says she will remain a fringe candidate because some of her policy positions are too radical for many.

“To say, ‘We need a politics of love’ without explaining what that is,” he said. “Or that we need a new paradigm, or that we need some kind of revolution — that doesn’t play on Main Street.”

Williamson denies denigrating science and disputes broader criticisms of her campaign.

“This idea that I am unserious — my campaign is the one talking about one in four Americans living with medical debt. My campaign is the one talking about the fact that the majority of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck,” she said.

“My campaign is the most serious campaign.”

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

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US

Woman missing for more than 60 years found ‘alive and well’

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May 4, 2025

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Woman missing for more than 60 years found 'alive and well'

A woman in the US who has been missing since 1962 has been found “alive and well”, authorities have said.

Audrey Backeberg left her home in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, in July that year when she was 20 years old, Sauk County Sheriff’s Office said.

Investigators pursued numerous leads over the years but the case eventually went cold.

However, during a review of cold cases earlier this year, a detective reassessed all the case files and evidence, and re-interviewed several witnesses – and found Ms Backeberg.

The 82-year-old was “alive and well” – living outside of the state of Wisconsin, the sheriff’s office said.

Ms Backeberg was married and had two children when she disappeared on 7 July 1962, according to the Wisconsin Missing Persons Advocacy organisation.

She left her home to pick up her salary but never returned, causing her husband to ask family members where she was.

Shortly afterwards their 14-year-old babysitter claimed she and Ms Backeberg had hitchhiked to Wisconsin’s capital city Madison and then caught a bus to Indianapolis, Indiana.

The teenager said when she arrived she became nervous and wanted to go home, while Ms Backeberg refused to return and was last seen walking near a bus stop.

Ms Backeberg’s marriage was troubled and there were allegations of abuse, the Wisconsin Missing Persons Advocacy organisation said, with a criminal complaint having been filed days before she went missing.

Her relatives insisted she would never abandon her children, the organisation added, and her husband passed a polygraph test and maintained his innocence.

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‘We talked for 45 minutes’ – detective

Detective Isaac Hanson, who found Ms Backeberg, said her sister’s Ancestry.com account was vital in helping him locate her address.

“That was pretty key in locating death records, census reports, all kinds of data,” he told local news station WISN.

“So I called the local sheriff’s department, said, ‘Hey, there’s this lady living at this address. Do you guys have somebody, you can just go pop in?’

“Ten minutes later, she called me, and we talked for 45 minutes.”

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‘She sounded happy’

Mr Hanson said Ms Backeberg may have left home due to marital issues, but it was unclear why she had stayed away for so long.

He said he had promised to keep their conversation private.

“I think she just was removed and, you know, moved on from things and kind of did her own thing and led her life,” he said.

“She sounded happy. Confident in her decision. No regrets.”

Sauk County Sheriff’s Office said Ms Backeberg made the choice to leave and her disappearance “was not the result of any criminal activity or foul play”.

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Sports

Jets-Blues Game 7 preview: Key players to watch, final score predictions

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1 hour ago

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May 4, 2025

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Jets-Blues Game 7 preview: Key players to watch, final score predictions

  • Multiple Contributors

May 4, 2025, 07:00 AM ET

It all comes down to this. The Presidents’ Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets host the St. Louis Blues in the 200th Game 7 in Stanley Cup playoffs history Sunday (7 p.m. ET, TBS).

One team will advance to the second round, while the other will get an early start to the offseason — and try to fix what went wrong.

For the Blues, this is the club’s 19th all-time Game 7, the most of any non-Original Six team. They have gone 10-8 in Games 7s, with the most recent one being the 2019 Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins, which they won 4-1.

This version of the Jets has much less Game 7 history on which to draw; their only Game 7 was a second-round victory over the Nashville Predators in 2018.

Who wins this one? We’ve gathered the ESPN hockey family to identify the key players to watch in the contest — as well as their final score predictions.

Who is the one key player you’ll be watching in Jets-Blues?

Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporter: If he plays, it’s Mark Scheifele. The hit in Game 5 from Brayden Schenn and/or Radek Faksa generated quite a bit of conversation about what is arguably the most physically demanding series in the first round. Scheifele’s play this season and this series prior to the hit reinforces what makes him a legit top-line center in this league. We saw how the Jets maneuvered around his absence for the final two periods of Game 5, while Game 6 proved why they need contributions from everyone if he can’t go.

But again, that’s if Scheifele plays. He skated Saturday in a tracksuit, with Scott Arniel saying the center will be a game-time decision Sunday.

Arda Öcal, NHL broadcaster: Connor Hellebuyck is the obvious answer here for me because he’s been “Vezina” at home (especially Game 2) and “Vezina from Temu” on the road.

Hellebuyck has allowed four or more goals in seven straight road playoff games, which ties the second longest such streak in Stanley Cup playoff history. But Game 7 is at home. The pressure is on but he’s in comfortable confines, surrounded by a “Whiteout.” Which version of Hellebuyck do we get Sunday night?

Kristen Shilton, NHL reporter: Connor Hellebuyck, of course. Has there been a Jekyll/Hyde performance like this in recent years?

The Vezina finalist can play lights-out at home and like a fish out of water on the road. Does that trend continue in Game 7? What version of the goalie shows up for this one?

But as a bonus, I’ll toss Pavel Buchnevich into this equation. He’s been driving the Blues’ offense, and if Hellebuyck is on his A-game then St. Louis is going to need Buchnevich to channel his hat trick energy from Game 3 to help the Blues pull off a stunning road win.

Greg Wyshynski, NHL reporter: Jordan Binnington renewed his title as one of the NHL’s most clutch goaltenders with his 31-save performance in Team Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off championship win over the U.S. — including six saves in overtime. He first earned it in 2019, backstopping the Blues to the Stanley Cup with Game 7 wins over Dallas and Boston.

Now he’s got a chance to reestablish those credentials.

Binnington had a 0.82 goals-against average and a .968 save percentage in those prior Game 7s. While Hellebuyck has been terrible in St. Louis, Binnington hasn’t been much better in Winnipeg, generating an .861 save percentage and a 3.44 goals-against average and giving up four goals in two of the three games. But as 4 Nations showed, Binnington can meet the moment. (Although this time, Kyle Connor will actually be in the lineup for the opposition. Not that we’re bitter or anything.)

The final score will be _____.

Clark: 4-3 Jets. There have been a few themes in this series. The first being that offense hasn’t been an issue — the teams have combined to score more than six goals in all but one game. The second is that the home team has won every game; I say that continues, and the Jets advance.

Öcal: 6-5 Jets. Hellebyuck doesn’t have his best game, but the Jets outscore that challenge, and Kyle Connor scores another third-period goal in this series to win it.

Shilton: 5-4 Jets. The Jets have been too good on home ice to let this one slip away. That’s not to say a St. Louis win would be surprising, but even if Hellebuyck is off, Winnipeg’s offense should be able to provide enough buffer that the Jets can squeak through with a narrow victory to advance.

Wyshynski: 5-3 Jets. The Jets would be toast if this game were played in St. Louis because it’s a demonstrable fact that Hellebuyck is a disaster on the road in the playoffs. He’s slightly below replacement at home in the postseason, but Winnipeg will take that considering his three removals on the road.

The Blues are first in the playoffs in 5-on-5 offense and goals-for percentage at home. But Winnipeg is second in both categories. Hellebuyck calms down, and the offense gets ratcheted up at home, especially now that Nikolaj Ehlers has a game under his belt, having not played since April 12 due to a foot injury.

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Environment

Meet Bodo – the 35 mph electric golf cart that thinks it’s a G-Wagen

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3 hours ago

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May 4, 2025

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Meet Bodo – the 35 mph electric golf cart that thinks it's a G-Wagen

Bodo G-Wagon electric golf cart; via Mecum Auctions.

With a fully-enclosed, G-Wagen-inspired body and an 80 mile electric range, the Bodo G-Wagon golf cart is the NEV you need when you decide it’s time to get serous one-upping the rest of the Palm Beach country clubbers.

If you love the look of the $230,000 Mercedes-Benz G580 off-roader, but think the 579 hp, 6,800 lb. electric 4×4 is probably overkill for occasional trips to the golf course and country club, this G-Wagen-inspired golf cart might be just what you’re looking for.

The shiny black 2024 Bodo G-Wagon sold at Mecum Auctions last month for $31,900, which seems like it might not be a lot of money to the sort of person who decides to take a flyer on a goofy, limited-use EV that ships with real, metal doors, power windows, heating and air conditioning, fully digital instrument cluster and infotainment, and a “posh,” caramel leather interior.

It even has windshield wipers, power steering, and a rear-seat entertainment system that’s built into the front headrests!

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It’s really nice in there

Under the hood, the Bodo packs a 15 kW (20 hp) electric motor drawing power from a 10 kWh li-ion battery that won’t deliver a scorching 0-60 mph time (it only goes 35), but will deliver you and your buddies from one end of any golf course in North America and back several times over, thanks to the G-Wagon’s 80 mile range.

The official Mecum Auctions listing goes into a bit more detail, and I’ve included it here, in case it gets deleted after a while and you’re just finding this for the first time in 2027:

Be the envy of any country club or golf community showing up with this 2024 Bodo G-Wagon Golf Cart. Perhaps more appropriately known as an E-Wagon, this baby G-Wagon is powered by a 15kW motor with a 10kWh lithium battery. Boasting an 80-mile range and a 35 MPH top speed, the Bodo is an enclosed, luxury golf cart that pampers occupants with heating and air conditioning, rear-seat entertainment, power windows, power locks and a posh, caramel-colored interior. With the Bodo fitted with power steering and 4-wheel power disc brakes with brake boost, drivers will think they’re in a full-size G-Wagon, thanks to the multiscreen entertainment cluster, the rearview camera, windshield wipers, turn signals, running lights and so much more.

Finished in black with the right amount of brightwork, the overall vibe is one of jaw-dropping, smile-inducing fun. While the Bodo would be an excellent choice for any golf community, it should also prove to be hugely popular around a race track or car condo community as well, or maybe even a neighborhood with its own airplane runways. Over the past decade in particular, the demand for unique, luxury golf carts has been on the rise, and understandably so. The number of luxury communities with specific interests in sports, aero and auto has also been on the rise, with people buying homes in these exclusive locations to better engage with like-minded people. All too often a golf cart is the perfect way to get around these gated neighborhoods, and this one is enclosed, comes with the amenities of a full-size car and is infinitely more stylish.

MECUM AUCTIONS

You can check out a few more photos of the 2024 Bodo G-Wagon golf cart that sold at Mecum, below – and if you want one for yourself, you’re in luck! I found this brand-new 2025 “G600 E-Wagon” (in white) for $23,900 at Gulf Carts in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. Head on down to the comments and let us know if you buy it.

SOURCE | LOTS MORE PHOTOS: Mecum Auctions.

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