2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumMartin O’Malley, slogging through Iowa, insists he is still in the game.WaPo
As Democratic presidential long shot Martin OMalley slogs through Iowa, he has pointed words for the rivals overshadowing him.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is a protest candidate, he says, whose anger may not resonate so much with voters when its time to actually pick a president. And he says Hillary Rodham Clinton, this years inevitable front-runner, might only be inevitable right up until the first contest.
Lagging in the polls and struggling to raise money, the former Maryland governor insists he doesnt regret waiting until late spring to launch his candidacy after Sanderss crowds had started to swell and Clinton had survived initial criticism over her private e-mail account and her familys foundation. . .
OMalley, who is taking far more questions on the trail from activists and reporters than Clinton or Sanders is, said he believes letting the voters take the full measure of him would serve him well.
Taking a shot a Clinton, he said Iowa voters had done that with her eight years ago, when she finished third and only 29 percent of the people decided to be for her.
If I had gotten in in January, if I had gotten in the day after I got out of being governor, I still wouldnt be a socialist, OMalley said, referring to Sanders. I wouldnt be calling for a political revolution. And hes able to do that, which makes him more attractive to some who believe the establishment isnt listening and a message needs to be sent right now.
While Clinton and Sanders draw headlines, OMalley is quietly courting voters here in the countrys first caucus state, going town to town to town, the old-fashioned way.
His campaign which raised $2 million last quarter, compared with Clintons $47 million and Sanderss $15 million is focusing much of its limited resources on Iowa, hoping a strong showing will catapult OMalley forward. He visited the State Fair in Des Moines on Thursday and has three stops planned Friday, including one in Clear Lake with the rest of the Democratic field.
Its frustrating for people that are helping to put gas in my tank and raise the money, because its like planting seeds in a field and you dont see them come up for a while, OMalley said in an interview. But thats the nature of this. .?.?. Were doing what we need to do in order to emerge here as the alternative.
OMalley, who is taking far more questions on the trail from activists and reporters than Clinton or Sanders is, said he believes letting the voters take the full measure of him would serve him well.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/slogging-through-iowa-omalley-insists-he-is-still-in-the-game/2015/08/13/507e1570-41ce-11e5-846d-02792f854297_story.html
sadoldgirl
(3,431 posts)I think O'Malley deserves much better. At first i thought that
he was looking to the VP position of HRC, but now, after looking
at his policy proposals I respect him and his positions.
I bet you that earlier debates could have helped him in
recognition and appreciation. Alas, DWS!
elleng
(130,865 posts)and it will come with exposure, debates the 'ultimate.' It's pretty clear to me that dws/hrc want to prevent that.
I don't see his policy proposals fitting comfortably with hrc's, and while he's done well dealing with compromises with legislative bodies, I don't see 'comfort' as hrc's vp.
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)if that were to ever transpire, after looking at his positions, i can't imagine he would want to be a veep to hrc. he seems a lot more in line with bernie, did you feel that way after studying him?
i actually would have no issue voting for him as the dem nom.
and he could clean any of the repubs clocks in a debate imo
oh, yeah, we are not supposed to talk about debates, shhhhhhh..
elleng
(130,865 posts)Much closer to bernie, positions-wise, and DEFINITELY clean their clocks!!!
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)elleng
(130,865 posts)(Literally, considering the clown car!) Think our seriousness would affect them???
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)and they are already floating balloons about candidates struggling.
i have no doubt the dnc is behind this trying to thin the field.
for what reason, i couldn't possibly know...
elleng
(130,865 posts)according to virtually everything I read, he's 'struggling.' I appreciate his attitude, recognizing the foolishness of such early characterizations.
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)i mean, why wait for an actual vote to be cast when they can start popping the champaign corks now?
this is why the washington outsiders like bernie, om, and dare i say it, trump, are resonating.
they tried to jettison bernie too and look where he is.
keep the faith! (so to speak in case you are a/a).
elleng
(130,865 posts)oasis
(49,376 posts)Had he hung in there, he had a good chance of giving Romney a run for the top spot.
O'Malley has ten times the presidential stature of Pawlenty.
elleng
(130,865 posts)and pawlenty looked/sounded decent ?yesterday? on Rachel show.
O'Malley: He told fairgoers, however, that he expects to rise from the bottom of polls and emerge from the Iowa caucus as a voice of a new generation.
After you get a chance to meet everybody, you usually winnow down the field, OMalley said of the caucus process. And in a Democratic Party that has a gravitational pull toward the future, that choice usually narrows down to a choice between the inevitable frontrunner who is inevitable right up until the first contest and the voice of a new generation who most of the country has not heard of before.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2015/08/13/martin-omalley-state-fair-soapbox-speech/31671345/
Historic NY
(37,449 posts)hitting the state fair and dozens of dog & pony meet and greets in 'Iowa'
elleng
(130,865 posts)He has surely figured it out.