“Dear Friends,

Over the last few weeks, I explored the idea of running in District 10′s special Congressional election.

I can honestly say this was one of the most moving experiences of my life.

I’ve become convinced, as never before, that America is ready for a new kind of politics – a “whole person” politics that calls on more than a narrow swathe of left brain thinking…that inspires our wisdom, our love, and most particularly our vital participation. I have witnessed what I see as the awakening spirit of American democracy, as person after person has relayed to me their hope — after sometimes never having thought it possible — that politics could be something authentic and truly meaningful in their lives.

In the final analysis, I didn’t feel that in the time left before the election I could wage a campaign worthy of the energy people were willing to put into it. While I am therefore not a candidate in the special election, I am retaining my Exploratory Committee status with an eye toward the regularly scheduled mid-term elections in 2010.

I have truly enjoyed being with you, and look forward to a deep and lasting relationship to your community. The word “politics” comes from a Latin root that means “of the people.” The politics that matters most is the connection we have among ourselves, and I hope to experience that connection in various ways in the months to come. I will not forget the kindness and support that you extended to me over the last few weeks.

With gratitude and all best wishes,

Marianne Williamson”

Personally, I am interested regardless in what unfolds.

Gets more and more interesting every day.

Sounds like that church in MI is run by people with a limited vision.

At a time when everyone is “having financial difficulty”, the US taxpayers bail out the Big Three and pay out bonuses to execs, while that church fires its minister “without notice” due to dwinding resources.

And amidst charges of financial impropriety and irresponsibility, I would bet.

Sounds like that church is chronically in financial difficulty, but has no clue as to how to solve its problems.

Alternatively, similar to the lawsuit that’s already been filed, she would have a strong equal protection argument since under normal circumstances a candidate would have plenty of time to switch parties prior to qualifying for the ballot.

“8300. A candidate for any public office, including that of presidential elector, for which no nonpartisan candidate has been nominated or elected at any primary election, may be nominated subsequent to or in lieu of a primary election pursuant to this chapter.”

Recently, the second of the two ministers, hired after Marianne left, was fired. I was told that he was given no notice and he was escorted out of the church.
The attendance and donations had decreased, and they were having financial difficulty.

In the event she qualifies as a write-in Green Party candidate, she would have to be the top voter-getter in the Green Party to advance to the run-off. But Weir tells me that all independents that attain a minimum number of votes will advance make the run-off.

Weir also says that the law is vague in some areas with respect to nonpartisan candidates. An Alamo man has filed suit in Supreme Court asking that the court order the state and county to allow him to appear only on the Nov. 3 ballot because he did not have time to submit signatures in lieu of the filing fee in time for the Sept. 1 ballot. Given the fact that the primary is a blanket primary, it seems unlikely that a court would allow the placement of a name only on the runoff ballot.

You are right about the difficulty of interpreting these laws, though. I rely on Weir although he admits the law is ambiguous in some areas. The various machinations related to this special election have been very interesting!

Lisa v.

It appears that she can’t do this as a Democrat without beating the other Democrats in the primary. The mystery to me is why she didn’t just file as an independent at the outset, unless her paperwork was brought to the Registrar so close to the deadline that it couldn’t be fixed. On the other hand a successful write-in effort would get her some positive attention, so perhaps the delay was intentional.