For those who would prefer a different presidential candidate than Hillary

[Bmore84]

52. Big pass on O'Malley

As a resident of Baltimore (City), Maryland, I would say to pass on O'Malley. He did some OK things as governor, but his economic policies nickel and dimed a lot of the working class by raising fees, tolls, etc over 27 times while in office. He is perceived as so much of a blah candidate in Maryland his second in command (Brown) lost to a no name republican. He did not do a lot for the working class and focused instead on working to cut deals for larger businesses.

The taxes (rental increases), fees and tolls don't seem like a big deal to most, but you have to pay a toll just to get around the harbor. Seeing as I was working on a low hourly wage I essentially spent my first hour at work paying for the ability to get to work, because a lot of people have to go through the tunnel or over the bridge to get to work. Generally policies like this don't affect the middle class, but I think people forget that it sucks a lot when you are part of the working poor.

A lot of this might be a general problem with how government in Maryland is run (from city to state), however O'Malley only seemed to add to the problem rather than working to solve it. I am not sure about else where, but the democratic party in Maryland generally looks out for the middle class and avoids the poor sections of the city. A couple of our city council members even got caught living in upscale suburban homes, while only maintaining a city address so they could continue to hold office.

I would probably vote third party (and so would a lot of people I know in Baltimore), if O'Malley was nominated.