Why Dan Hynes Thinks Martin O’Malley Can Beat Hillary [View all]

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'He told me in a telephone conversation this week that Hillary is inevitable only until she’s not anymore. And Hynes has a pretty good platform from which to make that argument. In 2006, he was the first elected official to publicly call—via a letter published in the Sun-Times and a press conference—on his former opponent, then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama, to run for president at a time when Hillary the Inevitable was poised to stroll into the Oval Office. . .

'The former Illinois comptroller was one of the first politicians to back Barack Obama when Hillary looked like a shoe-in for the White House. Now he thinks the former Maryland governor can pull off a similar upset. . .

Dan Hynes, 47—former Illinois comptroller, losing candidate in the 2004 U.S. Senate primary (against Barack Obama) and in the 2010 gubernatorial primary (against Pat Quinn), scion of a famous Chicago political family—will have none of that. He told me in a telephone conversation this week that Hillary is inevitable only until she’s not anymore. And Hynes has a pretty good platform from which to make that argument. In 2006, he was the first elected official to publicly call—via a letter published in the Sun-Times and a press conference—on his former opponent, then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama, to run for president at a time when Hillary the Inevitable was poised to stroll into the Oval Office. . .

People will see, he says, the “clear contrast with Hillary, this young, innovative governor.” He also mentions that O’Malley has been in Iowa more than Hillary or Bernie, that he has 80 county chairmen and is building an “incredible grassroots operation.” (O’Malley said publicly after Saturday’s debate that he is planning to “park” in Iowa.)

Hynes organized for Obama in 2007-2008 in Iowa, and he plans to do the same for O’Malley and to get the same result. “[There] will be a cavalry of Illinoisans to hit the doors and streets in Iowa.”

As a member of the Democratic National Committee, Hynes is irritated with the “headwinds” his candidate is fighting because of the paucity of debates, which, he charges were designed by the DNC’s chairwoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, to give Hillary an advantage. The debate schedule, he adds, “is structured in a disadvantageous way. It’s outrageous. The last one was on a Saturday night during the middle of an Iowa football game; the next one is the Saturday night before Christmas. I’m disappointed in the chairwoman.” . .

He also argues that O’Malley was the “hands-down” winner when MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow interviewed the three candidates earlier this month. And he claims that O’Malley “knocked it out of the park at the Jefferson-Jackson dinner” late last month. (Politico’s Glenn Thrush agrees, writing that O’Malley “best[ed]” both Hillary and Bernie.)'

http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/Felsenthal-Files/November-2015/Dan-Hynes-Martin-OMalley/