Martin O'Malley made an impressive stand this week in the face of potentially withering criticism
From articles predicting the death of his nascent campaign; to former officials and past community leaders (some disgraced, some convicted); to fictional television personalities and pundits; O'Malley faced an aggressive push to envelop him in a myriad of mishaps and missteps from his past terms as mayor of Baltimore and governor of Maryland.
O'Malley responded to the wave of orchestrated (and manufactured) controversy by traveling to his old governing ground in Baltimore and facing critics, hecklers, and questions head-on. He managed it all with his characteristically unflappable, appealing, and engaging style.
On Tuesday, O'Malley walked into a West Baltimore community meeting and mingled and marched outside afterward with protesters. In the process he was able to connect with some of the familiar elements of his former community in which he had played a prominent role in aiding and providing a positive influence.
Peter Crispino @PeterCrispino
O'Malley in prayer circle outside Simmons Memorial Baptist
Katie Wall @NBCKatie
O'Malley comforting church members at the burned down senior center in East Baltimore.
On Wednesday, O'Malley went to a food giveaway at the St. Peter Claver parish hall in northwest Baltimore's Sandtown neighborhood, lifting pallets of food and water, and packaged food to be collected by people whose local Save-A-Lot and CVS has been looted in the midst of the Baltimore uprising.
daveweigel @daveweigel
...No riot.
https://twitter.com/daveweigel/status/593487815494729728
Throughout it all, O'Malley conducted almost a dozen prominent interviews in which he confronted and answered the questions swirling around his visit about his past performance in office and produced some extremely eloquent commentary about the present demonstration for justice in Baltimore, even as he defiantly pushed back criticism of his efforts to reduce crime as mayor of the troubled community from 1999 to 2006.
Several reports also highlighted his presence in Baltimore and praised him for his efforts. He was, after all, the ONLY potential presidential candidate to bother to visit the community.
...examples:
lapared @lapared · Apr 29
Martin O'Malley takes a walk through Baltimore and shows real leadership via Daily Kos - http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/04/29/1381092/-O-Malley-Takes-A-Walk-Through-Baltimore …
Lis Smith @Lis_Smith · Apr 29
Imagine what politics would look like if more pols showed the chops that @GovernorOMalley did yesterday http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/04/28/martin-omalley-takes-a-walking-tour-of-an-angry-baltimore/ …
Boyd Brown @HBoydBrown · Apr 29
Great read on "Citizen O'Malley" volunteering and leading in his hometown. http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-04-29/martin-o-malley-baltimore-s-prodigal-mayor-gets-to-work …
Patrick Mellody @OneMellody · 11h 11 hours ago
...A must read from a true Baltimorer. GovernorOMalley: We Are Capable of More http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gov-martin-omalley/we-are-capable-of-more_b_7179780.html …”
Theodore M. Jamison @tmj4ever · 10h 10 hours ago
This is why I like Martin O'Malley: He tells it like it is. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/blog/bal-omalley-its-not-just-policing-20150430-story.html …
Jake Tapper @jaketapper · 5h 5 hours ago
Exclusive: @GovernorOMalley defends #Baltimore record in an interview http://cnn.it/1JEyiRM #TheLead
...despite all of the attempts to put a negative spin on this week for Martin O'Malley, the controversy provided him widespread exposure, and an excellent opportunity for him to demonstrate his character under fire. I think he came through it all (still ongoing?) actually elevating his stature and going a long way in establishing his unique, people-oriented brand of politics and calm, steady leadership in a fantastic preview of his expected campaign.
Chris Dickens reads Martin O'Malley, the former governor of Maryland and the former mayor of Baltimore, the names of people Mr. Dickens said had been brutalized by the police. photo/ Jason Horowitz
= new reply since forum marked as read
