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Purveyor

(29,876 posts)
Fri Mar 6, 2015, 02:45 PM Mar 2015

Clinton Email Scandal May Elevate Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley

Friday, March 6, 2015
By: Joe Battenfeld

If you want to know what life without Hillary looks like, drive up to a tiny coffee shop in 
Concord, N.H., tonight and look for the bland guy speaking awkwardly to a handful of curious customers.

That would be Martin O’Malley, the former governor of Maryland. Chances are you wouldn’t know him if you tripped over him, yet he could become the accidental front-runner if Hillary Clinton’s campaign continues to implode.

The disclosure of Clinton’s 
secret email account as secretary of state has not only severely damaged her presidential prospects, but exposed the Democrats’ complete lack of a bench — assuming U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren stays out of it. A race without Hillary would be like the Wizard of Oz without Dorothy. Sure, the Tin Man’s a nice guy, but not exactly great box office.

Democrats are hoping Clinton’s email problem goes away, but that seems very unlikely. That leaves the Democratic D-list of presidential hopefuls, led by O’Malley.

The two-term governor has been traveling around the country for the last few years to boost his presidential prospects — sort of a Democratic version of Mitt Romney — but because of Clinton, no one has taken him too seriously.

more...

http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/columnists/joe_battenfeld/2015/03/battenfeld_clinton_email_scandal_may_elevate_former

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peacebird

(14,195 posts)
1. I don't know much about O'Malley... Anybody from Maryland care to give me their take on his stint?
Fri Mar 6, 2015, 02:54 PM
Mar 2015

Thanks!

leftofcool

(19,460 posts)
2. Check out his relationship with Perdue chicken and his tax policies.
Fri Mar 6, 2015, 03:11 PM
Mar 2015

This is not someone I would support in the primaries but would vote for over any GOPer

peacebird

(14,195 posts)
4. Jackpine Radical just posted some links to articles about O'Malley, perdue, fracking....
Fri Mar 6, 2015, 03:15 PM
Mar 2015

. Thanks for the input!

elleng

(130,156 posts)
7. What tax policies? This?
Fri Mar 6, 2015, 04:45 PM
Mar 2015

'A big test came late in O’Malley’s first year, when he called lawmakers back to Annapolis to resolve a long-standing “structural deficit” in the budget, namely the state’s practice of planning to spend more money than forecasters expected it to collect in revenue.

O’Malley offered a package of tax increases and budget cuts, as well as a plan to raise additional revenue by legalizing slot machines — a poisonous issue for much of Ehrlich’s term.

Legislative leaders cautioned against holding such an ambitious special session — particularly with no guarantee of success. But O’Malley pushed through his entire package, with some bills squeaking by after debates that stretched into the wee hours. He had established himself as a force to be reckoned with, even though some efforts — such as repealing the death penalty — didn’t succeed right away.

In the end, there was no major O’Malley initiative that didn’t make it across the finish line. In some cases, he showed a willingness to compromise that frustrated his allies — like slowing the pace of pay increases in a minimum wage bill.'

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/in-defining-omalleys-legacy-liberal-successes-compete-with-tax-hikes/2015/01/19/5b951d4c-9d81-11e4-a7ee-526210d665b4_story.html

leftofcool

(19,460 posts)
11. No, what he did to middle class home owners who had to move
Sat Mar 7, 2015, 09:25 AM
Mar 2015

to other states for jobs during the recession. When we finally sold our homes (at a loss) he penalized us with an extra 10% tax because we had moved to another state before selling the home. He did that to hundreds of middle class home owners.

karynnj

(59,475 posts)
13. Who will you vote for then? - Clinton let Tyson (chicken) befoul lots of streams in Arkansas
Sat Mar 7, 2015, 02:10 PM
Mar 2015

I agree that we need a nominee with a decent environmental record. It will be sad if there is no real choice for one. (There was no excellent choice for climate change and the environment in 2008 either, but this is not going for excellent, but acceptable.) Thanks for your info on this. I hadn't bothered to look into any 2016 candidates because it has looked like a waste of time.

elleng

(130,156 posts)
14. O'Malley had a good environmental record.
Sat Mar 7, 2015, 02:28 PM
Mar 2015

O'Malley placed regulations in place before leaving office to limit the amount of phosphorous from chicken manure that could be used.

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/opinion/editorial/hogan-shelves-chicken-manure-rules/article_e1158828-cc00-5eb6-9b95-ff9ab74fd924.html

The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science presented Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) with the Reginald V. Truitt Environmental Award for his environmental leadership in Maryland. He received the award Sept. 30 at a special ceremony with invited guests at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

“From record farmland acres planted with cover crops to thousands of citizens growing oysters off their piers, to preserving hundreds of thousands of acres of open space, farm and forest lands, we’ve created common, publicly-available platforms and leveraged state resources to restore the streams and rivers we’ve inherited,” said O’Malley in a press release. “I’m honored to accept this award on behalf of all Marylanders — it is through their tireless dedication and commitment that will continue to establish a healthier Chesapeake Bay, and create a more sustainable future for the next generation.”

The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science’s Reginald V. Truitt Environmental Award honors a Marylander whose dedication, efforts and achievements in the fields of public service, communication and management have resulted in the better understanding and stewardship of Maryland’s environment, the release states. Past recipients of the award include former Maryland Sen. C. Bernard Fowler, U.S. Sen. Charles M. Mathias, Gov. Harry R. Hughes, Gov. Parris N. Glendening and U.S. Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes. Three of the five past recipients were in attendance. O’Malley is the sixth person to be honored with the Reginald V. Truitt Environmental Award.

“Governor O’Malley has listened to science in striving for Chesapeake Bay restoration and sustainable growth in Maryland. His leadership in responding to climate change through energy conservation and transformation has set a national standard,” said Donald Boesch, president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, in the release. “We as citizens of Maryland have been fortunate to have a governor with such vision, intelligence and commitment to our environmental future.”

O’Malley has served the people of Maryland as governor since 2007 and led the region in protecting the Chesapeake Bay, according to the release. During his administration, O’Malley has been the nation’s leading governor on the environment, the release states. He has pushed for stronger environmental regulations and has led the restoration of the bay. Maryland is the only state that has consistently met its two-year milestones, ensuring that short-term progress leads to long-term restoration.

Under his leadership, Maryland has worked with its partners to adopt management strategies to rebuild the blue crab population, and has made significant progress in restoring the oyster population and expanding the aquaculture industry, the release continues. He led the creation of BayStat, a data-driven performance management tool, to steadily reduce nitrogen and phosphorus polluting the bay. He has also led the state’s efforts to adopt, and become an active member in, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the nation’s first market-based regulatory program in the United States to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

During his administration, Maryland has added more renewable energy to its grid than any time since the Conowingo Dam was built 80 years ago, according to the release. In 2009, he led the state’s efforts to pass the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act that will reduce greenhouse gases 25 percent by the year 2020.

read more: http://www.somdnews.com/article/20150123/NEWS/150129622/1059/o-x2019-malley-receives-truitt-award-for-environmental-leadership&template=southernMaryland

karynnj

(59,475 posts)
15. This sounds good - as I noted, I have not yet looked at any of the possible 2016 alternatives to HRC
Sat Mar 7, 2015, 02:38 PM
Mar 2015

Though given where we are on the calendar, I really should. Thanks for the link.

elleng

(130,156 posts)
3. B.S. 'a bland guy speaking awkwardly.'
Fri Mar 6, 2015, 03:13 PM
Mar 2015

But O’Malley’s time in Annapolis is also the story of an unbowed liberal champion, who muscled through a string of policy changes that will endure long after he departs Wednesday. Gay couples in Maryland can now marry; the state no longer executes prisoners; minimum-wage workers are getting pay increases; and undocumented immigrants can qualify for in-state college tuition rates. It is harder to buy a gun.

The state spent record amounts on education and more on roads, despite a recession, and there were steep drops in crime and a dramatic increase in people covered by subsidized health care — improvements made possible, O’Malley boosters say, by the very tax increases that became so reviled.

“I’ve done what I think is the right thing to do for the common good of the people I serve,” O’Malley said in an interview. “If you look objectively at what this administration was able to accomplish .?.?. you’d say it was a very productive and effective eight years.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/in-defining-omalleys-legacy-liberal-successes-compete-with-tax-hikes/2015/01/19/5b951d4c-9d81-11e4-a7ee-526210d665b4_story.html

PADemD

(4,482 posts)
5. Agree
Fri Mar 6, 2015, 04:16 PM
Mar 2015

I saw a TV interview of Gov. O'Malley when he was Chair of the Democratic Governor's Association. He was very good at countering right wing talking points. He looks like a President.

elleng

(130,156 posts)
6. He is good,
Fri Mar 6, 2015, 04:21 PM
Mar 2015

appears mild mannered (which I like a lot) and competent. Was looking for an article I'd seen that summarized his accomplishments better than the one I just posted. Must find it, getting important now.

A bit more on O'Malley: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/01/us/politics/martin-omalley-in-veiled-jab-at-hillary-clinton-derides-politics-of-triangulation.html

realFedUp

(25,053 posts)
8. Ohforgodsake
Fri Mar 6, 2015, 10:23 PM
Mar 2015

Troll? Hillary is the target for GOPee ers. Welcome to anyone else who wants to run but in truth, no one will have her intelligence and experience to run. Of course, the Supreme Court did "elect" the most unqualified "pResident" in the last election.

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