Chelsea Manning's Senate Campaign Is Real and So Far, Very Good

When Chelsea Manning launched a run for the Senate back in January, some cynically viewed the nascent campaign as a publicity tour. But Manning is serious about running, with a platform of good, leftists policy ideas to boot.

In an interview with the Associated Press published on Monday—the fairly judgey writer twice dings her minimalist decor—Manning, who is running in Maryland, said she wants to close America’s prisons and free their ever-expanding population of inmates, reform the criminal justice system, and provide both universal healthcare and a guaranteed basic income—all ideas that are gaining traction in progressive political circles. Perhaps most pressing among the ideas Manning backs: abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which she said is preparing for an “ethnic cleansing” of immigrants.

“The rise of authoritarianism is encroaching in every aspect of life, whether it’s government or corporate or technological,” Manning told the AP, which noted that her “barely furnished living room” featured framed photos of Emma Goldman, the playwright Oscar Wilde, and President Obama’s commutation order, which brought to an end the 35-year sentence she was serving for leaking government documents to WikiLeaks.

Manning is running against Maryland Democrat Ben Cardin, a two-term senator who also served 10 terms in the U.S. House. She said that, though she doesn’t consider herself a Democrat, she wants to shake up the Democratic Party establishment, and vowed not to run as an independent if she’s knocked out in the June 26 primary.

This is all great!!!! All Democrats should adopt these platforms—in my opinion!!!—rather than framing them as far-fetched ideas unmoored from reality.

Correction: This post previously misstated that Manning would run as an independent if her primary bid does not succeed, when she vowed not to do so.