Drew Angerer/Getty Images(MIAMI) — Marianne Williamson, the spiritual teacher and author, arrived on the stage in the second installment of the Democratic debates as a political newcomer, but between the confrontations over the frontrunners’ long histories and political records, and poignant moments for others, she found her footing to formally introduce herself to the American people.

Amid the sparring between the nine other candidates on the debate stage over healthcare, the best-selling author elbowed her way into the spotlight, and seized the moment to distinguish herself from her more politically-experienced opponents, arguing that a health care system that doesn’t invest in preventative care would be a system of “superficial fixes.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, we don’t have a health care system in the United States. We have a sickness care system in the United States,” she said. “We wait until somebody gets sick and talk about who is going pay for the treatment and how they will be treated. What we need to talk about is why so many Americans have unnecessary chronic illnesses compared to other countries.”

But Williamson elevated her unique style for campaigning when it came time to deliver her closing remarks when she took direct aim at the invisible target not on the stage: President Donald Trump.

“Mr. President, if you’re listening I want you to hear me please,” she said. “You’ve harnessed fear for political purposes and only love can cast that out. So I have a feeling you know what you’re doing. I’m going to harness love for political purposes. I will meet you on that field, and sir, love will win.”

After expressing the message of love on stage, off stage, during an appearance on ABC News Live, Williamson said, “You can’t just talk about pieces and think that’s going to make up for people a vision.”

“I would have loved much more of a conversation about a larger vision for the country,” she added.

On the sidelines of the debate stage, the spin room, she praised her rivals, saying, “The candidates are really beautiful people so that parts good,” before launching into her criticisms of the direction of the country, “But you know when I talked about the fact that we don’t have a health care system we have a sickness care system, we have to talk about the fact that our chemical policies our food policies our environmental policies and to a great extent our economic policies are contributing to people being so sick. Because our economic policies create so much economic tension.”

When asked by a reporter if she thought the Democratic party was too far left for the whole country, she asserted, “I don’t believe so at all. You know I’m old enough to remember when Ronald Reagan was considered too conservative to be President. What he had thought was conviction. Conviction is a forced multiply. We Democrats have to stop apologizing for what we believe.”

Reflecting on her performance throughout the night, the political outsider said, “This was my first time doing that and I’m used to an experience where I sort of getting to say what I think so I need to get that part down.”

Before the next debates in July in Detroit, Williamson joked, “I will certainly practice elbowing my way at the next one.”

Williamson first announced her campaign in February, saying in a statement, “I want to engage voters in a more meaningful conversation about America,” Williamson said in a campaign statement. “About our history, about how each of us fit into it, and how to create a sustainable future. Our national challenges are deep, but our political conversation is shallow.”

This isn’t Williamson’s first attempt to enter the political fray. In 2014, Williamson ran as an independent to fill a seat in California’s 33rd Congressional District. She said in a campaign press release that she decided to run for Congress because “I believe America has gone off the democratic rails. A toxic brew of shrinking civil liberties expanded corporate influence and domestic surveillance is poisoning our democracy.”

She finished fourth, despite having raised about $2 million and gaining endorsements from celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Nicole Richie. Alanis Morrisette even wrote her campaign theme song.

“What I vastly underestimated was the significance of the fact that I knew nothing about running a political campaign,” she told ABC News.

She’s better known for her spiritual teachings than her politics, including for her first book A Return to Love, but the woman once called the “high priestess of pop religion” told ABC News that these are serious times and, “We need deep thinking.”

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