Martin O'Malley Readies His Run as the Un-Hillary

[Purveyor]

CONCORD, N.H.—Martin O’Malley had just delivered a 10-minute talk to a few dozen Merrimack County Democrats, then spent 15 minutes walking from handshake to handshake, compliment to compliment. Voters born in Maryland, which O’Malley governed as a Democrat for eight years, wanted to tell him what a nice job he’d done. Educators wanted to bend his ear about the state’s soaring test scores. A man with a camera mounted on a pole introduced himself as the host of a public access show and asked if the Democrats would at least have some presidential debates. O’Malley pledged that they would.

Then came Charles Pewitt. Heavily bearded, a battered New England Patriots cap hooding his eyes, Pewitt had a way of finding candidates in unprotected habitats. He walked over to O’Malley and announced the topic of his question.

“Immigration,” said Pewitt.

“Immigration,” O’Malley repeated. “Well, I’m in favor of immigration reform. But let me hear your question.”

“Well, OK,” said Pewitt. “Start with the bill in the Senate, which passed in June of 2013, S744. Some people call it the illegal alien amnesty mass immigration surge bill.”

Two cameramen, who had been intermittently filming O’Malley’s speech and conversations, wheeled around and turned on their lights.

more...

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/features/2015-03-09/martin-o-malley-readies-his-run-as-the-un-hillary

[Peacetrain]

1. I met Gov O'Malley last summer when he was campaigning

for Hatch in Iowa.. and I wrote then and I will write now.. I was very impressed with the man. Who ever is the Democratic nominee will get my enthusiastic support.. But Martin O'Malley is the who the republicans fear the most.. at least locally..

[femmocrat]

2. The article certainly makes it look like he is honing his message.

He's new at this, let's give him some time to develop his image. I was glad they referred to him as a "Progressive." I would be very glad to see him enter the race.

[Divernan]

3. A VERY impressive candidate, as described in this article.

O’Malley had demonstrated, with extreme subtlety, how he will challenge Clinton for the nomination. He would not swing at her over the scandals that compelled the media at any given moment. He would not steal away her voters with soaring rhetoric. No: O’Malley would meet as many Democrats as possible and remind them of how progressive he was. His Maryland, for example, led the nation in finding shelter for child migrants. His Maryland allowed non-citizens to obtain driver’s licenses. After learning that, the Democrats could ponder: Where was Hillary on those issues? And when they’d puzzled that question, they could ask about banks.

“When it comes to reform of Wall Street, I think we would make a mistake as a party if we held ourselves out as becoming some version of Dodd-Frank Light,” O’Malley told reporters after the Concord event. “I think we need to reinstate Glass-Steagall. I think we need to ask some very serious questions about the sort of stock buybacks that corporations are involved in today.” He did not need to explain how Glass-Steagall, the New Deal era reform that put a wall between commercial banking and investment banking, was repealed. It was repealed by Republican-written legislation signed by President Bill Clinton.


O’Malley, who told reporters in Concord that he’d make a presidential decision “by spring,” is getting ready to run as the sober, credible anti-Hillary. That message is designed for both varieties of New Hampshire Democrats that are not already on board for a Clinton restoration. The first group consists of progressive dreamers who, for now, are trying to draft Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren into the race. The second: Granite State pols who think their state is owed a real primary.

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"I don’t necessarily care about the e-mail story,” said Beth Campbell, a longtime Democratic activist who’d been put in charge of the event’s fundraising raffle of New Hampshire products. “There’s just something…” “Sleazy,” interjected Campbell’s husband, Doug. “Yeah, I guess that’s the word,” said Beth Campbell. “Everything seems to be set up for her to run for president.”

[FSogol]

4. K & R. n/t