Speaking at the Brookings Institute on Wednesday, a soft-spoken Martin O’Malley resembled the policy wonks that populate Capitol Hill think tanks.
He talked about computer models, cited percentages and referenced Moneyball.
It’s one of the reasons the former Maryland governor’s potential run for president has been seen as a long shot in a Democratic primary against the air of inevitability that has surrounded Hillary Clinton since she stepped down as Secretary of State two years ago.
But just one day earlier, while Clinton addressed a week of controversy surrounding her use of a private email address while at the State Department, O’Malley the politician drew standing ovations from a room filled with firefighters by calling for a renewed commitment to collective bargaining.
O’Malley, who left office in January, has repeatedly said he is seriously considering running for president and that he plans to make a decision sometime this spring. More and more his actions look like those of a candidate.
In the last couple of weeks, O’Malley has visited the early primary states of New Hampshire and South Carolina, spoken at the legislative conference for the International Association of Fire Fighters, given a policy speech at the Brookings Institute and appeared on a morning cable show.
These events have all included questioning about the appropriateness of Clinton’s private email account, but O’Malley has refused to criticize the assumed front-runner for the Democratic nomination.
Still, the past week has allowed O’Malley to showcase himself while some consider what would happen if Clinton were not in the race.
“[Clinton] hasn’t been handling things all that well and I think a lot of Democrats are starting to think that Obama beating her in 2008 wasn’t a fluke, that she might once again run as poorly managed a campaign as she did then,” said Todd Eberly, a professor of political science at St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
O’Malley echoed that sentiment during his appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Thursday morning.
“Our history as a party is one of always wanting to have robust discussions about the better choices that will give our kids a better future,” O’Malley said. “Most years there is the inevitable front-runner and that inevitable front-runner is inevitable right up until he or she is no longer inevitable.”
When Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md, announced her retirement this month, many thought O’Malley would take the opportunity to cut his losses and run for the Senate.
Instead, the day after Mikulski’s announcement, O’Malley said he would not be seeking the Senate seat. That was the day after The New York Times published a story about Clinton’s private email account.
“I think O’Malley just looked at that and said ‘I’m just going to keep going.’ Because if she does flame out, it’s wide-open season and a whole bunch of people who are polling down near 0 percent are suddenly going to be on folks’ radar screen,” Eberly said.
O’Malley has been polling poorly in many early states, registering in the low single digits in most polls.
The weekend of March 20, O’Malley will visit Iowa where, in February, a Quinnipiac poll found that 0 percent of likely Iowa caucus participants would pick O’Malley as their first choice and only 3 percent picked him as their second choice.
Eighty-four percent of those polled said they hadn’t heard enough about O’Malley to have either a favorable or unfavorable opinion of him.
To gain traction in Iowa, O’Malley needs to become more than another bland nice guy, said Cary Covington, a professor of political science at the University of Iowa.
“He needs a signature issue,” Covington said. “A popular song always has a hook you can’t get out of your head. He needs that hook.”
One issue that could resonate with Iowans, and helpfully channels the popular Elizabeth Warren, is limiting the influence of Wall Street, Covington said.
O’Malley visited New Hampshire last weekend, where he spoke with a local television station and at some small gatherings. At these events, according to reports, O’Malley spoke about limiting the influence of big money in politics and restoring the Glass-Steagall Act that required banks to keep their commercial and investment activities separate. That act was repealed in 1999 under President Bill Clinton.
“For 70 years we have prevented banks from gambling with our money and wrecking our economy and running roughshod over the common good that we share as a people,” he said on “Morning Joe” on Thursday.
If O’Malley really wants to go after Hillary Clinton for the nomination — as opposed to just running for name recognition or to earn a cabinet position — he has to draw more contrasts with her, starting with the email controversy, Covington said.
“He has to raise his profile and get sharp elbows,” Covington said. But he also has to avoid burning bridges.
On Wednesday at the Brookings Institute in Washington, where O’Malley was speaking about the CitiStat and StateStat initiatives he championed as mayor of Baltimore and governor of Maryland, O’Malley was asked again about email.
After answering a couple of questions about how he followed all applicable state laws as governor, including that emails do not have to be archived, he hadn’t mentioned Clinton once.
When asked directly about Clinton and Tuesday’s press conference to address the email controversy, O’Malley said he hadn’t watched. When pressed on why, he said, “Because I was working.”
Covington said that’s the right approach because O’Malley doesn’t want to come on too strong and get lumped in with the Republicans attacking Clinton, but should also point out that he always followed the rules.
Talking about his data-driven approaches to government on Wednesday, O’Malley called for those approaches to be applied to the federal government.
By Tim Curtis
gerald.maynes says
Yes! The man who taxed rain! Wants to run for president! The man who was repudiated by Gov. Hogans election. Yes the gift that makes every Repulican heart beat faster with happiness! I can see the ad now with ominous voice He taxed the Rain and If he gets elected what else will he tax? Air? Stop this menace vote Republican for President. The video will have O malley with his shifty eyes going back and forth, as he considers evermore taxes to stop the middle class cold. It justto good to be true.
Stephan Sonn says
That sir, would be your take.
What does not distinguish you Mr. Maynes , from Tea Party is how very personal your takes are.
Pure opinion. As if there were no such thing as substance in debate….. Shifty eyes indeed.
So it seems appropriate to comment on you as you actually do in debates here.
The middle class sir is a product of the progressive tax structure not the victim, as you would have it
by your conjecture. Personally I hope O’Malley’s run is just token positioning for cabinet consideration.
He would be a lousy Veep anyway
Can’t wait for Hillary to take a full swing at the Vast Right Wing
Koch Conspiracy.
Gerald Maynes says
Ah Yes! When all else fails, Such as logic! Fall back on the only thing left to the liberal mind, He must be a member of The Tea Party! Gosh Golly, not that! A member of the Tea Party! I am not (not that that matters). But I have the good sense that God gave me and can you please explain how in the world a Rain Tax is fair or does a thing to improve the middle class.
What is more, you could use and influx of a sense of humor. It does not cost a thing, and it is addictive, it does not cause any harm to the individual who has one and is good for our health.
As, for Martin O’Malley, the man who taxed the rain, well his Presidential Timber days are about as good as Chris Christie or Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse. ( In keeping with full disclosure Mr Duck and Mr Mouse never taxed the rain or closed the George Washington Bridge nor do they have shifty eyes).
Gerald Maynes says
Yes, I can!t wait for Hilary to run. I can’t wait for the Republicans hatchet woman Carly Farina, ask her directly Just what have you ever achieved in any office that you have held?( Yes it will be Carly to eliminate the silly war on women charges) . She was a disaster at State, as a Senator from NY, She cC-sponsored many bills that originated with Chuck Schumer and but next to none of her own.
She has taken huge sums from both Tyson Foods and from The Walton Family since the voters of Arkansas turned Bill Clinton out of Office(Yes He is the Grover Cleveland of Arkansas Chief Executives). Ms Clinton has a lot of explaining about her lost -e-mails, the unseemly taken huge multi-million dollar contributions to the Clinton Foundation from countries such as China and Middle Eastern countries well at the helm of the Department of State,=.
Ms. Clinton refuses to release medical records on her recent health. She used her health issues to avoid a probe by Congress for several months. She is a terrible campaigner, and my guess is that ticking sound you hear is her run for the oval office about to implode. Hilary Clinton most formidable opponent is herself.
The extremely sad thing is the Democratic party has no one else to run. Most of the parties Central leaning Senators were turned out, and you could hold the next Democratic governors convention in a booth at The Smyrna Diner.
Can somebody say President JEB Bush!
Stephan Sonn says
Two posts to make one point. All things in the present Republican array are contrary to human survival.
gerald maynes says
Oh Yes the sky is Falling , Yes the Sky is Falling! The Republicans are going to end all human life! Sir, I sincerely hope, from the bottom of my heart, you find some serious help. The world is not going to end if the Republicans take the White House in 2016, not any more then if the Democrats win. Life will go on,kids will be born, grow old. Young folks will fall in love and older folks will grow more happy with each other as they age. Just like we have for ages. So, cheer up my friend and have a good day
Gary Micken says
I can not believe O’Malley has not been found out. He is a crook. He is no more a presidential candidate than Mickey Mouse. If the people of this country knew about the tax, tax, tax mentality this joker has, he would be laughed out of the public eye. How much of the donations, he has received are from his friends, that have received contracts for road projects and farm land deals? He has screwed up everything he was involved in. One good thing he has done is drive life long Democrats to vote for a Republican Governor.