Martin O'Malley: “I’m not running for protest candidate"

[bigtree]

“I’m not running for protest candidate, I’m running for president of the United States,” the former Maryland governor said in an interview Thursday night following a campaign stop here that is part of a three-day swing through Iowa to highlight his proposals on climate change.

Asked what he makes of Sanders’s appeal, O’Malley said: “I think it shows the widespread desire for an alternative to this year’s inevitable front-runner.”

“It doesn’t terribly surprise me,” O’Malley said. “People feel like big money has subsumed, taken over, their politics, and they’re frustrated by it. … People feel like their voices don’t matter. People feel like they’re not being heard, and right now, they want to protest about that.”

Asked if he sees Sanders as a protest candidate, O’Malley said: “I think there’s an element of it … yeah.”


read: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/07/03/bernie-sanders-seen-as-a-protest-candidate-says-democratic-rival-martin-omalley/

"an element of it...yeah."

Meh. I also think there's an 'element of protest in O'Malley's run for office, and I don't think Sanders is a 'protest candidate,' although O'Malley didn't appear to be pressing that point as much as his interviewer.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. The guy hitting 33% in polls is a protest candidate, but the guy hitting 3% isn't?

Pull the other one, it's got bells on.

[bigtree]

2. to be fair, that's not what he actually said

...O'Malley denied that he's the 'protest candidate,' as you suggest he is.

He says there's 'an element' of protest in the support Sanders is receiving which he says is understandable. It's set up in a deliberately misleading way by the interviewer. So surprising...

[winter is coming]

3. That was my gut reaction, too, but it's early days yet.

Let's give O'Malley some time to get his campaign off the ground.

[Peacetrain]

4. What did you expect him to say when asked that?

Of course he is not running as a protest candidate..and I am supporting him... and yes I saw Bernie, and he is an awesome voice.. but O'Malley has the experience to get the things done that need to be done

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

7. How about

"I don't think either of us is running merely as 'protest' candidates. We both have visions of what's best for the country that vary dramatically from that of Ms Clinton, and feel that the country would be better off under our own stewardship. Likewise, my own ideas vary enough from those of Mr Sanders that again, I would prefer to have a chance to implement my own policy ideas rather than simply support his."

(I don't know the protocol on titles, so he'd probably replace Mr and Ms with some variant of Madame Secretary, former Senator, Senator, etc.)

[bigtree]

9. he said there's an 'element' of protest in Sander's support

...is that untrue?

it's not as if he derided that protest, rather, he agreed with it and cited several points of that agreement which his own campaign shares.

O'Mally was responding to the notion that his own candidacy was some sort of protest, rather than a true run for the presidency - the same inference you made citing his low support in the polls.

[roguevalley]

17. I personally believe he's running for VP.

[TheKentuckian]

5. No, my feel is he is running as the control rod/sheep dog/splitter candidate

perhaps unfairly and maybe I'm just super jaded and untrusting of any sniff of the establishment particularly any DLC/New Democrat association.

I'll continue to watch and listen but I feel the Old Okie Doak may be on.

[bigtree]

6. so, perhaps you feel Sanders should have run unopposed

...that's really something given all the shellac here about having a real primary.

Here's O'Malley running on the very issues you claim to support, his record in office in Md. chock full of progressive accomplishments to back up his pronouncements in this campaign. It's a wonder anyone would measure up to your expectations for a candidacy.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

8. Sanders is hardly running 'unopposed' in a race with Ms Clinton.

I think that O'Malley will probably realize at some point that he jumped in too late, and that if he'd wanted to win the votes Sanders is getting, he should have been in the race before Sanders announced, though.

[bigtree]

10. so you think this should just be a contest between Sanders and Clinton

...all other bids dissuaded and discouraged by polling and frontrunners..

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

11. There can be 500 candidates, that's the way the system works.

On the other hand, candidates who simply fail to 'catch fire' fairly quickly are just wasting time and money. Within a month or two, I think we'll see whether or not Chafee, O'Malley, or Webb have any real chance with voters.

(On the other hand, maybe Clinton and Sanders will both get hit by meteorites, and the nomination will go to somebody who was polling poorly before that event.)

[bigtree]

12. 'wasting time and money'

...easy to say when it's not your own choice in the contest, I think.

If I'm reading you correctly, you think this should just be a two-way contest between your candidate and Hillary. That's an amazing position to take before any votes are actually cast. We're not electing these politicians by opinion polls or money raised.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

14. I guess you're not reading me correctly, then.

I welcome all candidates with distinct viewpoints to the race.

I think most voters will quickly gravitate to a single choice who comes close to their viewpoint.

Therefore, I think it will quickly become apparent that candidates whose campaigns are too similar are simply going to split the same voters.

If they split them fairly evenly, fine, let them duke it out to see who will win that portion of the electorate.

If, on the other hand, if several candidates are essentially representing the same portion of the spectrum, and one maintains an overwhelming lead, then yes, I do think that (edit: the other) candidate is just wasting time and money.

While Sanders would still be 'my choice', if the polling were reversed (AND STAYED that way for any serious length of time) I would still think he was wasting time and money - and I wouldn't be donating to him, because I don't really have money to waste either.

Heck, if it were only Sanders and Clinton, and he'd simply sat at 5 or 10% and didn't go anywhere, I wouldn't donate to him either, and would consider his run quixotic.

[bigtree]

15. most people wait until around debate time to start making those determinations

...but I suppose folks these days are comfortable making snapshot decisions on who we elect like they're clicking on an app on their iPhone.

[lovemydog]

19. That's exactly what I do.

The more I've seen of Martin O'Malley the more I like him. The more I've seen of Bernie Sanders the more I like him. I haven't seen a lot of Hillary lately but I would have not problem voting for her in the general election if she is the democratic party nominee. Just as I'd have no problem whatsoever voting for O'Malley or Sanders in the general election. I want to see them interact in the debates. I don't vote in the primaries for 'who I think has the best chance of winning in the general election.' I vote in the primaries for who I'd most like to see as President. Right now I'm leaning toward voting for O'Malley or Sanders in the primary. I won't make up my mind until I've seen them in the debates.

[TheKentuckian]

21. It is a wonder at this point and pretty much down to Sanders and Brown in the Senate

about 60 trustworthy folks in the House, and a couple of now outsiders like Jones and Feingold.

Of course I don't think Sanders should run unopposed and he isn't there is Clinton who I think it makes more sense to concentrate opposition to rather than divide from a strategic point of view. Brown is/was my first choice but like him Sanders has the kind of track record and consistency on the issues that I can trust after the last snow job and as for O'Malley unlike you I'm not a constituent so he is in context new to me though I know of him and I'm wary of anybody out of the woodwork but like I said, I'm listening but admittedly jaundiced.

[bigtree]

22. this is a strong Democratic state

...but there's an active and frequently rabid republican population which provides most of the opposition to O'Malley here. I deal with the bigotry almost every day from people who I can't believe actually represent the population of this Democratic bastion. O'Malley has been a convenient target and a great deal of the opposition to him that we hear reflected in many so-called liberal attacks on him actually originates from cynical republican campaigns against his public office (like criticism of his tenure in Baltimore in which he received overwhelming support from those communities supposedly opposed to him in election after election). In the face of all of that, he's been a remarkably forceful, directly outspoken, and firm defender of progressive values and initiatives. Take one issue, immigration...

As governor, O'Malley signed a bill allowing young immigrants illegally in the U.S. to pay in-state college tuition and to a bill to get driver's licenses.

He was the first governor to meet with Latino leaders last year and sign up to push House Republicans to bring immigration reform legislation to a vote, which they never did. He has shown respect by using the term new Americans to refer to immigrants, whether here legally or not. He also established a state council to focus on integrating immigrants. He opposed White House proposals to return young Central American children and families who crossed the U.S-Mexico border last summer, saying they would face "certain death."

On deportations, O'Malley stopped Baltimore's City Detention Center from holding immigrants without criminal records for deportation by the federal government standing between the Justice Dept. and our immigrant community. He also admitted some 3,000 undocumented children into the state and found them shelter while other states dickered about their fate.

All the while, he took blistering fire from some of the most extreme conservative elements, I think, in the country who live here, never backing down an inch. That's typical of O'Malley on so many other issues, like abortion rights...

O’Malley, a product of a Catholic upbringing with a Jesuit education which he fully embraces, nonetheless accused the Catholic leadership of “hyperventilating” over the Obama administration’s regulation requiring employers and insurers to cover reproductive health benefits without additional co-pay. He's never hesitated or softpedaled his opposition to traditional church doctrine where he felt the needs of women and others required his support; and he's remarkably firm when he decides to support an issue.

One other thing which stands out is his habit of speaking up and out on issues which don't always come on the political radar, like the plight of Dominican refugees, recently, and the health care crisis in Puerto Rico, as well as appealing for the administration to respond to their financial crisis.

That's the backdrop in which I view his populist campaign against the excesses of banks and Wall St.; against Citizen's United; against boots on the ground in Iraq; against the excesses of the security state; in favor of eliminating student loan debt and providing free college education; providing federal protection for LGBT individuals in housing and in the workplace; for an increased minimum wage...

I can believe his commitment to these because I've witnessed, time and again, his unwavering and often blunt advocacy on so many progressive causes and initiatives here in Md. I hope that commitment comes through in this campaign, and I wish for folks here to keep an open mind about his candidacy without any more cynicism than a politician should expect from voters.

[elleng]

23. THIS post, bigtree, is a KEEPER!

Happy INDEPENDENCE Day!

[JustAnotherGen]

16. Something I've noticed in interviews

With Sanders and Martin?

The media always tries to make it about Clinton - not realizing they are feeding a beast (in my case re Martin) - a D.C. Outsider.

Keep right on pointing out he didn't have a hand in the mess this country's Federal Government is in by bringing up Clinton.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

18. I think Martin will do better as time goes on

not many people really know him

[lovemydog]

20. I agree. It's really lame and insulting

to both Sanders and O'Malley.

They each have reasons they are running.

That's what I want to hear.

It's a long way until the debates. That's what I'll watch most carefully. To get a sense of how they discuss their plans, and interact with each other.

Most of the rest is just kind of loud irrelevant noise to me, at this point.