"Martin O'Malley isn’t relenting”

We need more Dems in this race.

XPosting to M. O'M group.

But, as Rupert infamously said of Hillary, "I can live with" him.

I really like Bernie, and I really like Martin. They agree on all the issues that matter to me, but they have different styles and approaches for confronting the same problems.

There are times when I believe that Bernie is more capable of leading the rebellion and exposing problems, but that Martin would be more capable of governing the country and bringing about solutions.

Bernie has a lot of fire and righteous anger. I can identify with that. Martin is logical and pragmatic. I can identify with that. And I don't think either of them will "con" us and then sell out to the highest bidder.

I hope that O'Malley joins the race, and I hope that both stay in the race until one or the other shows himself to be of superior presidential caliber.

..you expressed that perfectly.

O'Malley/Sanders? Sanders/O'Malley?

I have seen people state that. I haven't seen any evidence of that at all. He doesn't seem to be going in the direction of running a negative campaign, but that is an entirely different matter of running for VP. He is politely stating that things have been wrong in this country for far too long and that it's going to take someone outside of the establishment to fix things. I think he is coming out swinging on those issues.

Some of his big supporters have heavily criticized that from others. Wonder if they will do the same with him?

O'Malley had a lot to lose by appearing on the streets of Baltimore. He was heckled by passers-by. He was trashed by a fiction-writer who made money by trashing Baltimore in a sensationalized TV caricature of that city and its mayor. But O'Malley did return to Baltimore and he took the heat, not for photo-ops, but because he genuinely loves the city he has lived in most of his life and that loved him enough in return to give him 91% of their votes. His interview on MTP this morning was quite stirring and emotional. I believe he has honesty and courage, and I respect him more every time I see or hear him. He is not flashy, but he is a decent and logical man who reads Thomas Merton and theology in the morning. And I believe his executive experience, including the things that went terribly wrong, has taught him how to govern with compassion and nuance.

I'm not sure he will enter the race. I think he would like to, because he thinks that he has something to contribute in these very troubled times. I think that, as president, he would not be as confrontational as Bernie, but perhaps more effective. Bernie is like a prophet in the wilderness. He tells us why these are hard times, and he shows us exactly who is to blame. But prophets usually have only a handful of followers, and their job is to clear the way for those able to do the hard work of incremental change. Many people here, like myself, would do anything to get Bernie nominated and elected. But is he the right person to be president? Leading the country is not the same as leading a protest march.

Having said that, IMHO, either Bernie or O'Malley would easily defeat any of the republicans now in the field. They would simply tell the truth in their own way, and the truth would burn through the republicans' shabby veil of "patently BS" absurdities and contradictions.

They did it due to the drop in NYC's crime rate after adopting that policy. By the mid 00s, everyone was moving away from it due to over-policing, arresting innocent people, profiling, etc.

O'Malley employed those policies when he arrived as Mayor (999), but moved away from them for the reasons stated. The number of arrests dropped each year in Baltimore as did the crime rate.

By the end of his Mayoral term he had moved away from that policy and instead used a model called Citistat. It used community policing (cops asigned to certain neighborhood who got to know the residents and could tell where the problems were and targeted policing at know problem spots, such as drug markets.)

He did not employ those methods as Governor. Unlike say, Giuliani, O'Malley changed, evolved, and modified his approach until he got a fairer/more workable system.

From a 2010 article in the Baltimore Sun:



What do community leaders in Baltimore think about O'Malley? From a recent Washington Post article:


O'Malley's statements on the issue:

and from what I have been researching is FAR preferable to the previous model that was abandoned when he was mayor.

One of the things I like about certain politicians, they are always willing to learn and improve.

"O'Malley employed those policies when he arrived as Mayor (999), but moved away from them for the reasons stated. The number of arrests dropped each year in Baltimore as did the crime rate."

Arrests peaked in Baltimore in 2005, which led to the lawsuit in 2006. It was only after O"Malley left office in January of 2007 that we got a mayor and a police commissioner that brought arrests way down. It's right in your own quote:



As governor O'Malley had no control over the Baltimore PD. He wasn't a part of the "current city leadership" whose efforts were being applauded by the NAACP and ACLU. So to credit him with the reduction in arrests is absurd.

still Mayor of Baltimore (November 2007).

So, O'Malley gets criticism for something that happened 7-1/2 years after he was in office, but can get no credit for changes made while he was in office? Who is being dishonest here?

From an article in the CSM today:




Whole article by Ken Thomas and Brian Witte here:
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2015/0504/Baltimore-violence-and-Martin-O-Malley-s-mayoral-legacy

He left office in January of 2007, not November. So even though arrests were still very high, you could truly say that arrests decreased his last year as mayor. That's not the same as arrests fell every year he was Mayor.

Instead of showing some integrity and admitting your mistake you accuse me for being dishonest on the grounds that "So, O'Malley gets criticism for something that happened 7-1/2 years after he was in office, but can get no credit for changes made while he was in office?" Of course, I never criticized O'Malley for something that happened 71/2 years after he was in office; so you are failing to get your facts straight again.

the more I learn about him. Thanks for posting, bigtree.

I believe the more voices we have speaking about core Democratic Party issues, the better.

I don't see any of them as being totally perfect, but they all have something better to offer to the electorate than any of the GOP choices.

I'm really excited about this primary season! I think it's shaping up to be a healthy step back to the left for the Democratic Party.