American hero Chelsea Manning, the hacker responsible for disseminating important information to the public through Wikileaks, allegedly hopes to serve her country again in a new capacity: as a US senator.
Related | OUT100: Chelsea Manning, Newsmaker of the Year
Manning filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Elections Commission on Thursday, and The Washington Post broke the story early Saturday. Manning. Manning will run as a Democrat in Maryland, opposing fellow Democrat Ben Cardin. Cardin has served two terms as the senior Maryland senator and is up for re-election in November, with the odds considerably stacked in his favor.
Support for Manning's candidacy has already been pouring in on social media.
\u201cMe: it\u2019s stupid to be personally invested in politicians, none of them deserve our allegiance \nAlso me, hearing the Chelsea Manning news: I\u2019M \ud83d\udc4f WITH \ud83d\udc4f HER \ud83d\udc4f\u201d— Brandy Jensen (@Brandy Jensen) 1515869875
\u201cSenator Chelsea Manning sounds cool\u201d— Alexandra Halaby\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f (@Alexandra Halaby\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f) 1515872466
There is also a huge amount of backlash from conservatives and bigots -- shocking! -- who seem gleeful that Democrats will be forced to disavow Manning for her history as a "traitor" and a cop-hater. Hopefully, the party will instead see the power in having a woman who gave up her freedom to take a stand for governmental transparency in a position of political power.
