Candidate Explainer: Martin O’Malley
The newest addition to the tiny list of Democratic candidates is here. You may have never heard of him but you’re not alone there.
These are the top google searches about Martin O’Malley since his announcement on Saturday stating his intention to run for President:
1. Who is Martin O’Malley?
2. Is Martin O’Malley a Democrat?
3. How old is Martin O’Malley?
4. How tall is Martin O’Malley?
O’Malley’s Background
Martin O’Malley was most recently the governor of Maryland for the past two terms and previously the mayor of Baltimore from 1999–2007. He was born in D.C., studied and graduated from the Catholic University of America, and received a law degree from the University of Maryland.
Fun fact: He plays guitar and has a stained glass window of him in a Baltimore bar.
O’Malley’s Campaign Obstacles
As shown by the top google searches about O’Malley, people know very little about him at this point. This will inevitably change after entering the list of democratic candidates, but if he has a chance win the nomination he’s going to have a tough time going against the other two democratic candidates who have a much higher profile. Some people go so far to say that with such low national recognition, he’s really just running to get on the ballot as Vice-President. Only time will tell if this is his true motivation for the time being.
Additionally, the legacy of his mayorship in Baltimore is put into question when considering the current state of affairs in Baltimore. However, it has been eight years since he’s been mayor, so we can’t give O’Malley too much heat for that. Critics still claim that his “zero-tolerance” policing tactics created an intense cultural climate with ripples that can still be felt today.
If you’re a fan of The Wire…
One thing avid watchers of the Wire should take into account is that the fictional character, Mayor Tommy Carcetti, is loosely based on the real Martin O’Malley. Think what you will about that…
What O’Malley Has Going For Him
Martin O’Malley has a strong Democratic record from both being Governor and Mayor. As Governor of Maryland, he pushed liberal reforms including “gay marriage, gun control, an end to the death penalty, and in-state college tuition for undocumented immigrants.”
He decreased the crime rate in Baltimore from the beginning of his term in 1999 to 2007 as he promised he would. If you are anti-Wall Street, he was recently described by Charlie Gasparino, of Fox Business Network, as the ‘“last person” finance CEO’s “want running in the Democratic Party”’ since he wants to implement heavy reforms on the financial industry.
O’Malley On the Issues
O’Malley has been quite vocal about his campaign platform, clearly defining himself as a mostly populist candidate targeting the middle class. Here’s a list of some of the main issues he’ll be focusing on in the primary.
- The Financial Industry. He’s very critical of the financial industry and wants more reforms on banks, making this point a separating issue between O’Malley and Clinton, who is known to support less supervision of Wall Street
- Unions. He continues to be extremely supportive of worker’s rights, hoping to raise the minimum wage and help collective wage bargaining by unions.
- Gun Control. He’s shown a record of implementing more gun control.
- Same-Sex Marriage. Marty supported the legalization of same-sex marriage in Maryland
- Immigration. His passing of in-state college tuition for undocumented immigrants, a state wide version of the Dream Act, as well as his backing of a program for undocumented immigrants to receive limited driver’s licenses suggests a more progressive view on immigration policy
- Abortion. He remains Pro-Choice as well as in favor of Universal Health Care
- Social Security. O’Malley sees a necessity to reform Social Security, stating “to make the (American) dream true again, we must expand — and not reduce — Social Security benefits.” and hopes to implement his apparently extensive and successful use of “CitiStats” data analytics, a tactic he coined and used to tackle Baltimore urban issues when mayor, to combat Social Security.
