Martin O’Malley launched his presidential campaign Saturday with an appeal to the party’s progressive base that he hopes will upend the conventional wisdom that Hillary Clinton is destined to clinch the Democratic nomination.
The former Maryland governor unveiled his campaign in Baltimore, the city where he was once mayor — a role that is central to his political persona. But his Baltimore credentials could become more of a challenge than he initially thought after a riot erupted in the city in April.
“This is the urgent work calling us forward today: to rebuild the truth of the American Dream for all Americans,” O’Malley said. “And to begin right now.”
He touched upon last month’s unrest in Baltimore, saying the aftermath of Freddie Gray’s death was about more than race or policing in America, but about “the scourge of hopelessness” in the nation’s cities.
“There is something to be learned from that night, and there is something to be offered to our country from those flames,” he said.
A small group of protesters tried to interrupt his speech, shouting remarks like “black lives matter” and blowing on whistles. As O’Malley discussed the problem of income inequality and concentration of wealth, one protester angrily yelled out: “You did that! It was you!”
But the protesters largely failed to be a disruptive presence at the launch event, where O’Malley’s supporters reacted enthusiastically to his speech.
O’Malley also took a shot at Clinton and Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, using an attack on Goldman Sachs to suggest they were too close to Wall Street to be advocates for the less fortunate in America.
“Recently, the CEO of Goldman Saches let his employees know that he’d be just fine with either Bush or Clinton. I bet he would,” O’Malley said. “Well, I’ve got news for the bullies of Wall Street: The presidency is not a crown to be passed back and forth by you between two royal families. It is a sacred trust to be earned from the people of the United States, and exercised on behalf of the people of the United States.”
Taking on Hillary
Perhaps O’Malley’s biggest challenge is finding a way to dent the Clinton political machine while also proving that he’s a competitive candidate in his own right — not just a backup for progressives who would rather see Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts in the White House.A Quinnipiac University poll released this week places Clinton 56 percentage points ahead of O’Malley.
