So, acc to this, Mr O'Malley is just putting on a show for us Liberals~

[RiverLover]

The Progressive Impersonator
Martin O’Malley wants to be the liberal alternative to Hillary Clinton. It's a good strategy for an actual liberal.
Slate
4/1/15

O"Malley: “I believe that there are new perspectives that are needed in order for us to solve the problems that we face as Americans … I believe that new leadership is needed.”

O’Malley wants to be that new leadership...His plan is to stand as a liberal alternative for Democrats who want a more populist alternative to Clinton’s modest, center-left agenda, and hope that—like in 2008—Clinton loses her grip on inevitability.

It’s why, after a career of technocratic liberalism, he’s begun speaking like Sen. Elizabeth Warren....

For O’Malley to be the liberal alternative, however, he has to be liberal, or at least, more-so than Clinton. But not only is O’Malley close to Clinton on the ideological map of the Democratic Party, he might even be a little to her right. At FiveThirtyEight, Harry Enten scores the governor across two dimensions—his fundraising and his public statements—and compares him to similar scores from Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, which also include their congressional voting records.

On a scale of 100 (most liberal) to –100 (most conservative), O’Malley scores a 33, which makes him a moderate liberal along the lines of Howard Dean in the 2004 election. But this isn’t as liberal as Sanders, who scores a 61, or even Hillary Clinton, who scores a 50, making her substantially more liberal than her progressive challenger-in-the-making. A different scale, from political data group Crowdpac, shows a similar picture. On their scale, Sanders is much more liberal than Clinton, who is slightly more liberal than O’Malley....

...In fairness, we could ignore O’Malley’s problems with rhetoric and ideology if he were a daring leader for Maryland in his eight years as governor. The reality, however, is that he was often a follower in Annapolis; his progressive record has as much to do with liberal Democratic majorities in the state legislature as it does with his own ideas and approach.

None of this is to say there isn’t space in the Democratic primary for O’Malley, and he certainly knows what liberals want to hear. In the last month, he’s called for tougher sanctions on banks and a reinstated Glass-Steagall Act...

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2015/04/martin_o_malley_wants_to_be_the_liberal_alternative_to_hillary_clinton_the.html

So what do you guys think? Is he a player? Trying to play us?

[djean111]

1. I think he is meant to be VP. I think any and all "populism" from HRC and O'Malley is just

window dressing. Just someone safe to debate with.

[RiverLover]

3. I think you may be right.

After all, he's friends with Hillary & got the OK from her to "do what he needs to do." They're probably working together behind the scenes.

[elleng]

7. Who got the OK from Hillary?

[RiverLover]

11. O'Malley. Read that. Will look for the link tomorrow if I must.

I posted the article on a thread in GD a while back.

[elleng]

21. Please do. Haven't seen it.

[RiverLover]

55. Someone else posted the article

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=6296356

[elleng]

60. Thanks.

Not exactly an endorsement, more like 'Sure, you can do whatever you want,' a fact of political life.

[RiverLover]

6. Here's more to back that theory up~

...In one pitch, he's the man for left-wing Democrats tired of waiting for Elizabeth Warren to get into the race. In the other, he stresses his executive experience and says he has a history of "bringing people together to get things done." The two approaches aren't innately contradictory—O'Malley is indeed a liberal, though not really of the Elizabeth Warren type, and he does have experience as a governor and mayor—but in practice it means a series of tonal shifts, from outsider populist to consensus-seeking technocrat and back again. It doesn't help that O'Malley's politics aren't actually all that different from Clinton's, nor that even when he's clearly criticizing her he's reluctant to mention her by name. At one point, after one of Stephanopoulos' periodic references to his rival, he insisted that his comments were "not about being for or against any other candidate." It's hard to imagine Jim Webb or Bernie Sanders saying that. This just isn't the way an insurgent candidate talks....

http://reason.com/blog/2015/03/30/martin-omalley-the-challenger-who-dares

[sabrina 1]

64. Don't listen to what they say, look at their records, how they vote, WHO IS FUNDING THEM

because as we all know by now, they will ALL sound 'ultra Liberal' during campaign season.

I don't much care what they say anymore, unless they have already proven themselves.

There are only a few whose words would mean anything to me..

Kucinich, Russ Feingold, Warren, though I'm not sure of her position on FP, and Sanders.

The rest I would have to check their funding and their records no matter what they sound like right now.

It's interesting, how the party trashes and silences the Left, but how much they try to cater to them during Campaign season, then when they win, go right back to ignoring and/or trashing them again.

So the Left needs to be very wary of anyone sounding liberal when their records show otherwise.

[still_one]

2. I think we should listen to what he says, and understand what his policies are to determine if he is

The progressive some may be looking for.

See what he did as governor

Actions speak louder than words

[elleng]

5. See my post #4.

[elleng]

4. Who is the clown writing this,

and why is slate publishing it?

Nobody knows who Martin O'Malley is. Well, nobody except,
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026374118

environmental record
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=398157

O'Malley to Congress: extend unemployment benefits
http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2014/01/12/omalley-to-congress-extend-unemployment-benefits/

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/73251.html

From his resume:

A former Governing Magazine “Public Official of the Year,” Governor O’Malley was re-elected in 2010. His 2013 legislative successes were described in a Baltimore Sun editorial as “without many parallels in recent Maryland history.”

With a balanced approach of spending cuts, regulatory reform, and modern investment in education, innovation, and infrastructure, Governor O’Malley and his Administration are making better choices that are delivering better results, including:

Fastest rate of job growth in the region.
#1 ranking for best public schools in America for an unprecedented five years in a row (Education Week).
#1 ranking for holding down the cost of college tuition (College Board).
#1 ranking for innovation and entrepreneurship for two years running (U.S. Chamber of Commerce).

Under the Governor’s leadership, Maryland also ranks:

#1 nationally in median income,
#1 in Ph.D. scientists and researchers per capita,
#1 in Research and Development, and
#1 in businesses owned by women.


More at: http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/08conoff/gov/former/html/msa13090.html

'But O’Malley’s time in Annapolis is also the story of an unbowed liberal champion, who muscled through a string of policy changes that will endure long after he departs Wednesday. Gay couples in Maryland can now marry; the state no longer executes prisoners; minimum-wage workers are getting pay increases; and undocumented immigrants can qualify for in-state college tuition rates. It is harder to buy a gun.

The state spent record amounts on education and more on roads, despite a recession, and there were steep drops in crime and a dramatic increase in people covered by subsidized health care — improvements made possible, O’Malley boosters say, by the very tax increases that became so reviled.

“I’ve done what I think is the right thing to do for the common good of the people I serve,” O’Malley said in an interview. “If you look objectively at what this administration was able to accomplish .?.?. you’d say it was a very productive and effective eight years.”'

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/in-defining-omalleys-legacy-liberal-successes-compete-with-tax-hikes/2015/01/19/5b951d4c-9d81-11e4-a7ee-526210d665b4_story.html


http://www.fredericknewspost.com/opinion/editorial/hogan-shelves-chicken-manure-rules/article_e1158828-cc00-5eb6-9b95-ff9ab74fd924.html

The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science presented Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) with the Reginald V. Truitt Environmental Award for his environmental leadership in Maryland. He received the award Sept. 30 at a special ceremony with invited guests at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

“From record farmland acres planted with cover crops to thousands of citizens growing oysters off their piers, to preserving hundreds of thousands of acres of open space, farm and forest lands, we’ve created common, publicly-available platforms and leveraged state resources to restore the streams and rivers we’ve inherited,” said O’Malley in a press release. “I’m honored to accept this award on behalf of all Marylanders — it is through their tireless dedication and commitment that will continue to establish a healthier Chesapeake Bay, and create a more sustainable future for the next generation.”

The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science’s Reginald V. Truitt Environmental Award honors a Marylander whose dedication, efforts and achievements in the fields of public service, communication and management have resulted in the better understanding and stewardship of Maryland’s environment, the release states. Past recipients of the award include former Maryland Sen. C. Bernard Fowler, U.S. Sen. Charles M. Mathias, Gov. Harry R. Hughes, Gov. Parris N. Glendening and U.S. Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes. Three of the five past recipients were in attendance. O’Malley is the sixth person to be honored with the Reginald V. Truitt Environmental Award.

“Governor O’Malley has listened to science in striving for Chesapeake Bay restoration and sustainable growth in Maryland. His leadership in responding to climate change through energy conservation and transformation has set a national standard,” said Donald Boesch, president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, in the release. “We as citizens of Maryland have been fortunate to have a governor with such vision, intelligence and commitment to our environmental future.”

O’Malley has served the people of Maryland as governor since 2007 and led the region in protecting the Chesapeake Bay, according to the release. During his administration, O’Malley has been the nation’s leading governor on the environment, the release states. He has pushed for stronger environmental regulations and has led the restoration of the bay. Maryland is the only state that has consistently met its two-year milestones, ensuring that short-term progress leads to long-term restoration.

Under his leadership, Maryland has worked with its partners to adopt management strategies to rebuild the blue crab population, and has made significant progress in restoring the oyster population and expanding the aquaculture industry, the release continues. He led the creation of BayStat, a data-driven performance management tool, to steadily reduce nitrogen and phosphorus polluting the bay. He has also led the state’s efforts to adopt, and become an active member in, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the nation’s first market-based regulatory program in the United States to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

During his administration, Maryland has added more renewable energy to its grid than any time since the Conowingo Dam was built 80 years ago, according to the release. In 2009, he led the state’s efforts to pass the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act that will reduce greenhouse gases 25 percent by the year 2020.

read more: http://www.somdnews.com/article/20150123/NEWS/150129622/1059/o-x2019-malley-receives-truitt-award-for-environmental-leadership&template=southernMaryland

[RiverLover]

9. Thanks for all the info elleng.

I want to believe in him. I really do. Because if its just between him & Hillary & Webb(gag), he's getting one primary vote from me!

[elleng]

12. You're welcome, RiverLover.

I have no doubt he's the 'real deal,' a real progressive Democrat, and also a practical problem-solver.

Watch this when you have the time. You may omit the first 20 minutes of introduction:

[Mass]

13. Thanks for the info.

I was kind of amazed by the article. You beat me to doing the research.

[elleng]

14. You're welcome, Mass.

Watch this, when you have the time. You may omit first 20 minutes of intro:'

[MannyGoldstein]

15. Best public schools in America?

I'm a bit dubious of that, given that Massachusetts has scored #1, by a wide margin, on the nationwide NCLB rating test (the NAEP) every year its been given. Are you sure that the school ranking (and other stats) are legit?

[elleng]

16. Pretty much.

I live in MD, and am aware of excellence of the public schools here. I can't, however, compare them to Mass.

[MannyGoldstein]

23. NAEP

http://www.massteacher.org/news/archive/2013/naep.aspx

[merrily]

48. A recent OP at DU about him and "law and order" quoted him making an odd comment about "teh left."

I didn't consider either of those points a disqualifier. However, neither his stance on "law and order" or his comment was encouraging. You've pointed out a lot of things that are encouraging, though.

[yallerdawg]

8. O'Malley plays Green Day -- he is a player!

Guitars or walkers?

Put a fork in me, I'm done! (plus he is a populist liberal)

[MannyGoldstein]

10. Remember Tommy Carcetti in The Wire?

MARTIN O’MALLEY, TOMMY CARCETTI AND 2016

(FWIW)

[leftofcool]

17. Maryland under O'Malley=#1 in foreclosures plus mass exodus of middle class taxpayers

Ask O'Malley about his "rain tax"

[elleng]

18. Links, please.

[elleng]

19. About the rain tax:

On the heels of Maryland’s decision to enact tough new gun laws, the ironically nicknamed state (the “Free State”) will now impose a so-called “rain tax” on its residents.

The “storm management fee,” passed by the state legislature in 2012, will go into effect on July 1 following a decree from Democrat Gov. Martin O’Malley.

But first, a little background [via the The Gazette]:

In 2010 the Obama administration’s Environmental Protection Agency ordered Maryland to reduce stormwater runoff into the Chesapeake Bay so that nitrogen levels fall 22 percent and phosphorus falls 15 percent from current amounts. The price tag: $14.8 billion.

And where do we get the $14.8 billion? By taxing so-called “impervious surfaces,” anything that prevents rain water from seeping into the earth (roofs, driveways, patios, sidewalks, etc.) thereby causing stormwater run off. In other words, a rain tax.

The EPA ordered Maryland to raise the money (an unfunded mandate), Maryland ordered its 10 largest counties to raise the money (another unfunded mandate) and, now, each of those counties is putting a local rain tax in place by July 1.

The 10 areas affected by the “rain tax” include Montgomery, Prince George’s, Howard, Anne Arundel, Carroll, Hartford, Charles, Frederick, Baltimore counties, and Baltimore city.

“Fees will be calculated on the surface area of properties as the theory is that roofs, driveways and carparks create more potential for drainage problems and water contamination,” Metro explains.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/04/11/heres-whats-included-in-marylands-controversial-rain-tax-its-exactly-what-it-sounds-like/ (a right-wing publication)

[progressoid]

40. #1 in foreclosures? I thought Nevada and Florida were top in foreclosures.

[elleng]

47. That's much more likely to be the case, progressoid.

[msongs]

20. St. Martin of Maryland swoops in for the win lol nt

[Thinkingabout]

22. I would be interested where they got their facts, but welcome O'Malley to run.

The information of Hillary being slightly more left is not the information I have found. In fact Hillary and EW are right together and O'Malley is more moderate than those two are.

[MannyGoldstein]

25. No daylight between Hillary and Warren

Except on Wall Street, of course, and (as I believe you pointed out,) on war.

Other than those issues...

[malokvale77]

24. I think he is barely left of Hillary Clinton.

He is in Obama territory.

[blkmusclmachine]

27. http://home.arcor.de/jens.meder/3dschach/galerie/mint2.jpg

[malokvale77]

32. Star Trek...

I've never watched it, but if you think that is the best reply to my post, I have no problem with it.

Beam me up Scotty.

[Thinkingabout]

29. He is more moderate than EW or HRC who are rated together.

[malokvale77]

36. "He is more moderate than"...

moderate being the new political buzzword for "not radical".

I stand by my post.

[Thinkingabout]

39. Perhaps, moderate is close to the center.

[malokvale77]

42. Center of what?

The whole political spectrum, or the Democratic party?

I stand by my post.

[Thinkingabout]

63. The whole political spectrum

[rhett o rick]

65. What does "rated together" mean? nm

[Phlem]

71. Curious? NT

[rhett o rick]

72. So do you think that HRC and Sen Warren should be "rated together"? Or do you agree

that that information is pure bullcrap?

[F4lconF16]

26. He's the safe liberal, imo.

A "populist" that doesn't send the banks and elites panicking. I've seen a number of good and bad things about him. I've heard from a couple different sources he's actually to the right of Clinton, but he's got solid credentials elsewhere. I'm still pretty undecided on him, but if he's not freaking out TPTB that's not a good sign.

[elleng]

28. To the right of clinton? Where'd you hear that?

[F4lconF16]

30. An article or two somewhere...

I was trying to find it earlier and couldn't. I didn't really agree with it, though. Just mentioning I've heard it--sorry, should have added that. (And they weren't right wing, to be clear). I wish I could get you the link.

[elleng]

34. Thanks. Would be useful to know where stuff comes from,

based on what, otherwise it's 'he said/she said.'

[F4lconF16]

45. No, you're absolutely right. nt

[Thinkingabout]

31. O'Malley is classified as a moderate liberal, and EW and HRC are classified as hard core liberals.

[elleng]

33. "Classified" by whom?

I'd like to know how such classifications are made, what they're based on.

Words without meaning being thrown around, not useful.

[Thinkingabout]

37. Here is the info

http://www.ontheissues.org/Martin_O%60Malley.htm


http://ontheissues.org/hillary_clinton.htm


http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/Elizabeth_Warren.htm


The charts are at the end.

[Dragonfli]

41. Looks a bit right to me

https://www.politicalcompass.org/

This is an actual chart. the one you post even has disclaimers that it should not be taken too seriously by it's creators the website operators, rather than an actual examination of right left measures, yours is a plaything of the "on the issues" authors.

VoteMatch

Candidate's Political Philosophy

The below is a way of thinking about the candidate's political philosophy by dividing the candidate's VoteMatch answers into "social" and "economic" questions. It is only a theory - please take it with a grain of salt!
Social Questions: Liberals and libertarians agree in choosing the less-government answers, while conservatives and populists agree in choosing the more-restrictive answers.

Economic Questions: Conservatives and libertarians agree in choosing the less-government answers, while liberals and populists agree in choosing the more-restrictive answers.

I disagree with their entire methodology

[F4lconF16]

46. +1 thanks for the info.

I can't see that being a useful metric either.

[elleng]

44. Thanks; useful info here.

[rhett o rick]

70. Since you posted it w/o comment, I assume you agree that HRC is a hard line liberal. Is that

true?

[rhett o rick]

66. PLEASE show where HRC is classified as a hard core liberal. Maybe Fox'ed Up News. nm

[Dragonfli]

69. See my post #41 she is going by the pop meaningless graphic used by "ontheissues"

I posted the last available respected graph of Hillary on the political spectrum, if you look at the one I posted, one can see a much truer picture, made even clearer because there are some other good examples to compare relative to her in the same graph.

edited to add, it appears that the two folks behind the ontheissues website consider Hillary a far left fringer LOL

[RiverLover]

61. Its in the article, this OP. (?!?!?!)

Guess you only read the title.

[aspirant]

35. From what I've read here

if Bernie announces he is the real true Populist champion, why choose second best?

[Enthusiast]

38. I am suspicious of any and all potential candidates including Martin O’Malley.

It stands to reason the PTB would run another Trojan Horse at us considering the effect of the last one.

[Dragonfli]

43. I am concerned that according to a post above

The US Chamber of Commerce gives him their best rating, but that is just because I don't trust that organizations likes and dislikes, I am biased in this respect and I admit it.

I am also concerned that in the same source, his schools are rated number one in the nation without saying where they get that while Manny posts proof that Mass. claims that honor.

Another concern is a post I read last week that as mayor, he took an arrest as many as possible and let the courts sort it out approach to law enforcement that resulted in extremely large numbers of PoC getting arrested over nuisance violations. I wish I could recall the thread, it was backed by statistics that I can not reproduce without the article.

[Enthusiast]

51. It doesn't look good to me.

[Cheese Sandwich]

49. I don't trust him

So ya know how politicians always lie and pretend to support popular policies to get elected, but then they help rich people and big corporations once they get elected? He seems like one of those guys.

O’MALLEY’S POPULIST CRITIQUE OF TRADE PACT UNSUPPORTED BY PRIOR COMMENTS

Former Gov. Martin O’Malley, D-Md., now positioning himself as a progressive populist among potential 2016 presidential candidates, told USA Today that he differs from Hillary Clinton because he opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement he said will “hollow out our middle class and middle class wages.”

The Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, is a proposed free trade accord between the U.S. and 11 Pacific Rim countries. Critics say the deal will provide corporate interests with sweeping powers to challenge banking and environmental regulations and other rules in special courts set up under the World Bank, and they argue the TPP will hurt American jobs by extending the ability of businesses to relocate facilities to countries involved in the agreement.

But just two years ago, there was no criticism to be heard when O’Malley discussed the TPP.

On May 8, 2013, O’Malley spoke before a trade conference hosted by the Council of Americas in Washington, D.C., where he was asked on camera about his perspective as a governor on the TPP and other trade deals pursued by the Obama administration. “I would hazard to guess that a majority of us [governors] believe that free trade, provided it’s fair — and that’s always the rub — is a net benefit for us. I believe that, at the risk of stating the painfully obvious, we’re all part of a global economy,” O’Malley said. “So it would seem to me, that to the extent that we can be proactive in concluding agreements with strategic partners, geographically, philosophically, then that is a benefit to us.”

...

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/04/03/omalley-says-opposition-tpp-differentiates-hillary-clinton-supported-deal/

[djean111]

50. Not climbing on any O'Malley bandwagon, but as far as the TPP is concerned, two years ago we did not

know that "free trade" was certainly NOT the aim of the TPP. Or TTIP. Anybody would say "free trade" is good, that is why the TPP is being labeled "free trade" when most of it is just transfer of power to corporations. When only 5 or so of the 28 or 29 chapters actually deal with trade, there should now be questions and criticism.

[RiverLover]

52. Not exactly right. 2012: "Trans-Pacific Partnership: The biggest trade deal you’ve never heard of"

Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 12:13 PM EST
Trans-Pacific Partnership: The biggest trade deal you’ve never heard of
A huge but little-known trade agreement could transform America's foreign relations. What it is and why it matters
Matt Stoller

http://www.salon.com/2012/10/23/everything_you_wanted_to_know_about_the_trans_pacific_partnership/

[djean111]

54. Thanks for that article. I stand corrected. Anyone who can read that article and still pimp for

the TPP (and TTIP) is either a corporate tool or hopelessly delusional about what constitutes being a corporate tool.

What are the larger concerns about the TPP?

There are two major concerns about agreements like this. One is that these agreements continue a transition from a democratic system toward one in which the rights of foreign corporations can trump laws passed by legislative bodies. As Lee put it, “Every time you have a new trade agreement you expand the number of companies who can challenge American laws.”

The second concern is far more frightening. America’s dependence on China was not an issue in 1992, when NAFTA was signed. Today, it is. Lee noted, “We’ve put ourselves in a very vulnerable position because of the concentrated source of supply on critical resources, whether it’s China or elsewhere. I don’t agree that the TPP is the answer to this. In my view TPP, if anything, will exacerbate this. In TPP what’s being discussed are fairly weak rules of country of origin. Some of these countries may get substantial inputs from China. The TPP could become a conduit for the U.S. to become more dependent on China.” Barry Lynn spelled this out in a hypothetical disaster scenario, in which American tensions with China cause genuine friction. This isn’t far-fetched, as America is positioning military assets in the region.

“Officials [in China] do not even need to impose some sort of across-the-board trade embargo to achieve their ends. Far more effective would be to put the squeeze on one industrial system or other, or one company or other, day after day, in a systematic fashion, until Washington cried uncle. The Pentagon has sketched out complex plans for how to respond to any use of force by China. Far more useful would be to know how the United States as a nation would respond when, suddenly, grandma can’t get her medicine. Or when, suddenly, the store shelves empty of batteries and lightbulbs. What does the president do when he has General Electric and Wal-Mart both on the phone, demanding the restoration of normal trade? Or when Apple’s stock plummets because the company can’t move any of its iPhones through Chinese ports?

That BUT CHINA!!! boogeyman is ridiculous. The whole thing reeks, and it is disheartening, no, disgusting, to see people pimp for it because of whose name is currently on it, or because of who helped write it. This is how Democracy is killed.

[RiverLover]

57. Good post.

Thank you djean111.

[RiverLover]

53. Thank you CS.

That is incredibly disappointing, but we need to know this time.

We NEED a true progressive to step up.

[RiverLover]

56. HA Goodman is a HUGE Elizabeth Warren fan, and he likes O'Malley for President...

Why Americans should consider O’Malley for president
HA Goodman
4/1/15

In eight years as governor of Maryland, and seven years as mayor of Baltimore before that, O’Malley has accomplished a great deal of success. His accomplishments and leadership skills surpass those of Hillary Clinton or Jeb Bush, and for these reasons, Americans throughout the country should consider O’Malley in 2016.

According to Gallup the economy, jobs, and wealth inequality are all major issues for American voters. On these top issues, O’Malley succeeded in bringing Maryland towards the top of every ranking. According to the Maryland Reporter, the following statements from O’Malley are deemed “true:”

Maryland has the highest median household income in America, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has ranked Maryland #1 in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Education Week magazine ranked Maryland’s K-12 schools #1 in America for five straight years. The nonpartisan Pew Center on the State ranked Maryland one of the top three states for upward economic mobility.

Compared to ethical scandals by both Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush, O’Malley was able to move Maryland towards the top of rankings for education, economic mobility, and entrepreneurship. Also, Maryland was one of only seven states to maintain its AAA bond rating during the recession....

...As a result of his success and persona, people in Iowa are now likening O’Malley to JFK. According to a Daily Iowan piece titled Martin O’Malley: The nation’s new JFK?, O’Malley has the ability to “captivate” voters:

O’Malley has the ability to captivate the nation and rise from a relatively unknown to a political juggernaut as John F. Kennedy did in the 1960s, more than 50 interviews with The Daily Iowan show....

Furthermore, he can type an email without controversy. Unlike Hillary Clinton, O’Malley has used technology to help his state, not own a server for some bizarre reason. O’Malley has also made wealth inequality an issue, wants to expand Social Security, enacted Maryland’s version of the Dream Act, raised the minimum wage, and oversaw the passage of marriage equality. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, just recently changed views on marriage equality and has remained quiet on a number of other issues that O’Malley championed in Maryland.

...Unlike Hillary or Jeb, O’Malley hasn’t been linked to a major controversy and his track record can’t be correlated to any major failure. Martin O’Malley, not Hillary Clinton, should be towards the top of any Democrat’s wish list for president and Americans throughout the nation should pay attention to the former Maryland governor.

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/presidential-campaign/237506-why-americans-should-consider-omalley-for-president

[djean111]

59. A (personal, I suspect) problem I have now is that I no longer care who is supporting this or

that politician. I do really like - and need - to read what various people list as good qualifications, though. I think I have been made irreversibly cynical by the "Warren signed a letter, so you should want Hillary to be president because Warren says so" stuff, as if we were delegates at a convention, to be mindlessly traded.

So far, it looks like I am going to be, at best, underwhelmed and disappointed by whoever the Big Money settles on as candidate, and will be sitting out the "enthusiastic campaign" stuff. I believe that the Banks Have Spoken. Also believe Citizens United is not going anywhere at all, because both parties are bathing in that money like it is a champagne bubble bath.

O'Malley does seem better than Hillary, on paper. His being VP candidate will not make me any more of a Hillary fan than I am now, though, and yeah, we may just be getting set up, someone sounding like a Progressive for campaign purposes, but looking at an administration stocked with Larry Summers clones and seeing Kissinger doddering about, muttering about useless eaters and the need to have a much smaller population (old UN stuff, easily googled) as he swills down at state dinners.

[RiverLover]

62. No, you're right. The PTB & our Third Way Dems are trying to make sure this will be a very

predictable & non-transformative election.

They want a win no matter if its the blue team or the red.

And we are stuck with voting for the lesser of 2 moneyed corporate evils. I will become another unaffiliated if Hillary is, as is predicted, our party's nominee. She doesn't represent me at all, no matter how she spins things on the campaign trail with all of her experts and their collective fingers in the air checking which way the wind is blowing...

[rhett o rick]

67. I agree. nm

[blackspade]

58. Playing us......

[rhett o rick]

68. I would say that the Powers That Be that have their hands deep into the Democratic Party

would love to see someone like O'Malley give the Corp-Media an excuse to ignore anyone truly progressive.

[TheKentuckian]

73. My gut has said stalking horse the whole way. I have little hope for the Castro brothers either now

or in the future who are being touted as the "true liberals" who are set to take over after another neoliberal administration, one poster even asserts that no conversation about democratic-socialists is complete without them but they could in no way support their point, it was about bilingual voter drives and their mother's politics aka nothing.

The neoliberal aren't setting any table for a thing resembling a socialist or even liberals. If they are setting up anything it is continuing what they are up to and nothing else.