It may be that we will have a Democratic primary challenger to Hillary Clinton. Let me be clear that any Democratic candidate, more progressive than Hillary, who can win the presidential election in 2016 will have my support. It’s not hard to find Democrats more progressive than Hillary. Most are. But I wonder if Martin O’Malley is the right candidate?
In the the Plum Line at the Washington Post today comes a report from the Wall Street Journal (behind a pay wall) that Hillary Clinton will have at least one challenger in the Democratic Party primaries:
The Wall Street Journal reports that top Dem fundraisers claim Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley has said he’ll enter the presidential primary even if Hillary Clinton is in it. He’s raising his profile on the left:
O’Malley signed a law raising the state’s minimum wage to $10.10 an hour by 2018….he signed legislation banning various kinds of assault weapons and imposing new limits on the size of gun magazines….he pushed through the first state gas-tax increase since 1992…O’Malley said unaccompanied minors illegally entering the U.S. shouldn’t be returned to home countries where they would be in danger — a position at odds with the White House… [emphasis original]
Inserted from <Daily Kos>
He certainly sounds more progressive then Hillary, and I like his positions. I don’t know much about his record, and that’s the problem. In all these years, I have never before had occasion to mention his name. Could he win the general? I have to think not. But if nothing else, he might help drive Hillary leftward, or help a better known progressive decide to run.
7 Responses to “Is O’Malley In?”
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Well, as Arielle says, he has two years to increase his name recognition (and indicentally two years to push Hillary left if thet's what he is going to do). He is term limited as Governor, or he would be running for that again this year (the Dem candidate is his Lieutenant Governor, Anthony Brown). He was Chairman of the DGA from 2011-2013, so Howard Dean (and your Governor, if you have a Democrat) would likely know more about him. His First Lady is Katie Curran (no, not Couric – I'm sure you all can tell the difference, but Republicans, you know) and if she keeps a low profile it's because she is a judge herself and (unlike Republican judges) respects the judicial code of conduct. He seems to have accomplished some good things, and in part because apparently his gubernatorial wins pushed Progressives into offices down the ballot, which is certainly a nice thing. He is Catholic, but signed the smaesex marriage bill after the local archbishop told him not to; he nicely told the archbishop where to go. He also signed the bill repealing capital punishment. He ain't perfect, but he's interesting.
My family, living in MD have no complaints about him. i'm sure we'll learn much more about him in the months to come. He did sign a "rain tax" into law which was effective this july. I don't know exactly how it works but you are taxed on the area of your roof and driveway. There is too much rainwater runoff into the Chesepeake Bay increasing pollution. In order to comply with new EPA regulations, this new tax was the solution. The average homeowner would pay about $100. I suppose McMansions willl be taxed proportionately.
Get out the old rain barrel . . .
I'm very grateful for all these insights into Mr O'Malley – he seems to be good, and from my point of view better than Hillary who is (as others have already said) far too corporate and far too fond of Monsanto….
WRT what Tasunka said – before Mr Obama was elected our political satirists were saying that any politician called Kennedy-Clinton-Bush would be a shoo-in as America seemed to like the families so much – or would that be that corporate America liked to fund them…..?!
I know nothing about him, other than what I just read here. It will be interesting to see what comes out about his career.
O'Malley . . . being Canadian, I know his name, so like Pat A, I appreciate other learned people's view of him. Irish Catholic hmmmm . . . reminds me of another Irish Catholic . . . JFK. I don't know however if that is where the similarities end. Any one who can tell the archbishop, in essence, to go to hell, certainly has some spunk.
One thing I learned long, long ago (in this galaxy!) was that when you play tennis against someone who is better than you (like I did in grade 12 when I played against my gym teacher), you really tend to play better . . . you come up for the challenge. I would hope that the same would apply here. I hope there will be good back and forth with positive ideas etc coming out. Add Bernie into the mix, and the Democratic race should be a barn burner! Glad that general maxim did not hold true for the 2012 Republicanus/Teabagger race to the bottom for Rick "Oops!" Perry.
Thanks all. Pit stop!