The dad-jeaned troubador
The day after it was released, the video of Martin O'Malley playing his acoustic guitar and singing Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land" in front of the New York Stock Exchange had just over 8,000 views on YouTube. . .
I expect that O'Malley will eventually get his turn as a contender, and I wouldn't be shocked if he eventually wins the nomination. He's a good candidate who showed a little heart when he called for a federal ban on assault weapons and stricter regulations on gun purchases at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in June. While asking "How many senseless acts of violence do we have to endure as a people before we stand up to the congressional lobbyists of the NRA?" might not play well in Red State Arkansas, it's a message that will likely resonate in coastal urban centers and among the Democratic base.
While the conversation now seems to be mostly about Bernie Sanders' ultimate viability or the chances of Hillary Clinton's campaign withstanding the relentless scrutiny of her enemies without exhausting the patience of her friends, O'Malley could represent a compromise choice. (Though editorial cartoonists everywhere might favor Uncle Joe Biden.) O'Malley's relative youth--he's 52--works in his favor, and maybe the best thing for him might be to hang back in third or fourth place, within striking distance and better to maneuver around the front-runner's crackups when (if) they come.
But if a person means to become president in this post-literate age, he cannot remain too anonymous too long. Hence the earnest folksinging video, which had O' Malley strumming his Taylor on Wall Street. The news and politics website Independent Journal put him up to it, to, in its words to "highlight through-the-roof election spending."
"The American financial system spent over $80 million during the election cycle in 2012," the copy accompanying the video stated, pointing out that "the big money . . . typically flows to two-three top contenders . . . So how does the everyman presidential candidate raise an honest buck on Wall Street?"
Well, O'Malley, dressed in dad jeans and a black UnderArmour T-shirt (a Maryland company whose position in the sports apparel world is somewhat like O'Malley's in the political arena--it's not Nike but widely seen as an acceptable alternative), made $1.74 for an hour of busking. And one guy, appreciative of his efforts but short on cash, tossed in a package of gummy bears.
O'Malley is a credible street singer. He's a strummer, but he can play down the neck a bit, and his pitch and phrasing aren't bad. It's a bit disappointing that he doesn't sing--or that the camera doesn't catch him singing--any of the last three original verses of the song, which make it clear that Guthrie was writing in response to the thoughtless patriotism expressed in Irving Berlin's "God Bless America."
It would have been thrilling to see a genuine contender for high office standing on the steps of the NYSE singing:
One bright sunny morning in the shadow
of the steeple
By the Relief Office I saw my people
As they stood hungry,
I stood there wondering if
God blessed America for me.
http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2015/sep/15/the-dad-jeaned-troubador-20150915/