Martin O'Malley Launches White House Challenge to Hillary Clinton

[mystery-ak]

http://www.newsmax.com/PrintTemplate.aspx/?nodeid=647650


Newsmax
Martin O'Malley Launches White House Challenge to Hillary Clinton
Saturday, May 30, 2015 09:41 AM

By: Sahil Kapur

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley entered the Democratic presidential race on Saturday in a longshot challenge to Hillary Rodham Clinton for the 2016 nomination, casting himself as a new generation leader who would rebuild the economy and reform Wall Street.

"I'm running for you," he told a crowd of about 1,000 people in a populist message at Federal Hill Park in Baltimore, where he served as mayor before two terms as governor. O'Malley said was drawn into the campaign "to rebuild the truth of the American dream for all Americans."

O'Malley has made frequent visits in recent months to early-voting Iowa, where he was headed later Saturday, and New Hampshire, his destination Sunday. Still, he remains largely unknown in a field dominated by Clinton.

Already in the race is Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who could be O'Malley's main rival for the support of the Democratic left.

An ally of former President Bill Clinton, O'Malley was the second governor to endorse Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2007. But he made clear that he thinks Democrats deserve a choice in the 2016 primary.

"The presidency is not a crown to be passed back and forth ... between two royal families," O'Malley said. "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."

He pointed to recent news reports that Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein would be "fine" with either Clinton or former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a leading Republican contender and the son and brother of presidents, in the White House.

It was a forceful message that O'Malley will focus on overhauling the financial system, a priority for liberals opposed to the bailouts of Wall Street banks.

"Tell me how it is, that not a single Wall Street CEO was convicted of a crime related to the 2008 economic meltdown? Not a single one," O'Malley said. "Tell me how it is, that you can get pulled over for a broken tail light, but if you wreck the nation's economy you are untouchable?"

Aides said O'Malley called Hillary Clinton on Friday to tell her he was running.

The 52-year-old O'Malley has spoken often about the economic challenges facing the nation and said he would bring new leadership, progressive values and the ability to accomplish things.

"We are allowing our land of opportunity to be turned into a land of inequality," he told the crowd.

O'Malley has presented himself to voters as a next-generation figure in the party, pointing to his record as governor on issues such as gay marriage, immigration, economic issues and the death penalty.

His tenure was marked by financial challenges posed by the recession, but O'Malley pushed through an increase in the state's minimum wage while keeping record amounts of money flowing into the state's education system. He backed a bill to allow same-sex marriage, which lawmakers passed and voters approved in 2012. He oversaw a sweeping gun-control measure and a repeal of the death penalty.

He also raised taxes on multiple occasions — on higher earners, sales of goods, vehicle titles, gasoline, cigarettes, sewer services and more. Republican critics branded him as a tax-and-spend liberal and the GOP defeated O'Malley's hand-picked successor in 2014.

But his record on criminal justice has been scrutinized in recent weeks after riots in Baltimore broke out following the death of Freddie Gray, an African-American man who died in police custody following his arrest last month.

O'Malley was known for his tough-on-crime, "zero tolerance" policies that led to large numbers of arrests for minor offenses. Critics say it sowed distrust between police and the black community. Supporters note the overall decrease in violent crime during his tenure. O'Malley has defended his work to curb crime, saying he helped address rampant violence and drug abuse.

A few demonstrators gathered near the park to protest O'Malley's criminal justice policies as mayor, an office he held from 1999 until his election as governor in 2006. During O'Malley's speech, there was sporadic shouting from protesters, including one who blew a whistle.

O'Malley called the unrest "heartbreaking" but said "there is something to be learned from that night, and there is something to be offered to our country from those flames. For what took place here was not only about race, not only about policing in America. It's about everything it is supposed to mean to be an American."

Megan Kenny, 38, of Baltimore, who held a sign that said "stop killer cops" and yelled "black lives matter," said she thought O'Malley's decision to run was "a strange choice," especially because of the recent rioting. She attributed the unrest to his "ineffective zero-tolerance policy."

O'Malley could soon be joined in the Democratic field by former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, who plans to make an announcement next week, and former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, who is exploring a potential campaign.

Sanders has raised more than $4 million since opening his campaign in late April and sought to build support among liberals in the party who are disillusioned with Clinton.

In a sign of his daunting task, Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski, his former boss and mentor, is supporting Clinton. She said in a statement that O'Malley "should follow his dreams. And while I've already announced my support for Hillary Clinton, I know that competition is good for democracy."

One of O'Malley's first tasks as a candidate would be to consolidate support among Democrats who are reluctant to back Clinton and eyeing Sanders.

"It's not going to be a free pass for anybody running for president," said Jereme Leazier, an O'Malley supporter who traveled to the rally from Hagerstown, Maryland. "He's going to ask the hard questions."

[truth_seeker]

And while all democrats discuss income disparity, Republicans discuss homosexuality.

The former is a topic of interest to many, the latter only to a diminishing audience.

The GOP could stand an economic populist, instead of career government employees.

Trump, if he wasn't such a self-promoting airbag, might have something to offer.

Our infrastructure needs attention, for example. You know, the highways that Republican Eisenhower built, for instance.

How about talking about topics like that? Jobs at home, for citizens.

[evadR]

Having destroyed Baltimore as a mayor and Maryland as a governor, it's on to complete Obama's work, the complete destruction of a nation.

[musiclady]

And while all democrats discuss income disparity, Republicans discuss homosexuality.

The former is a topic of interest to many, the latter only to a diminishing audience.

The GOP could stand an economic populist, instead of career government employees.

Trump, if he wasn't such a self-promoting airbag, might have something to offer.

Our infrastructure needs attention, for example. You know, the highways that Republican Eisenhower built, for instance.

How about talking about topics like that? Jobs at home, for citizens.

The only reason the Republicans talk about homosexuality is that every stinking leftist media type is trying to trap them.

I wish you'd stop blaming those on the right for the obsessions of the left.

THEY are the ones making one's sexuality a big deal, not Republican candidates.

[mountaineer]

And while all democrats discuss income disparity, Republicans discuss homosexuality.

Looks to me like it was the Democrat, O'Malley, who brought up homosexuality. Why bash the Republicans on this?

O'Malley has presented himself to voters as a next-generation figure in the party, pointing to his record as governor on issues such as gay marriage, immigration, economic issues and the death penalty.

[mountaineer]

Yahoo News

Martin O’Malley launches populist campaign from embattled hometown


BALTIMORE — Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley launched his presidential campaign here Saturday on top of a knoll overlooking the city’s Inner Harbor. Reachable only by a steep ascent up the hill, the setting served as a fitting reminder that his battle against the presumptive favorite for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton, also will be an uphill one.

O’Malley was the mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007, but that experience came off as a footnote in an address designed less to reflect its setting than to position the candidate as an electable progressive alternative to Clinton running on his record as Maryland governor from 2007 to 2015. The tension between his record as governor and as mayor was evident at his announcement.

O’Malley paused briefly in his Federal Hill speech to lament last month’s “heartbreaking” riots that tore apart sections of his city — sections miles away from the affluent, picturesque neighborhood he chose as a backdrop for the biggest moment of his political career.

As a governor, O’Malley was on the forefront of progressive Democratic legislating, signing into law both a state-based DREAM Act — expanding in-state tuition to the children of undocumented immigrants — and the legalization of gay marriage in his mid-Atlantic state. But as mayor, he imposed a police-crackdown that  some have linked  to the current tensions between the black community and police in Baltimore, dramatically worsened in April by the police-custody death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray.

On Saturday, a small group of protesters made their way to O’Malley’s presidential announcement to disrupt his speech and to speak to reporters about their resentments relating to his time as mayor and the stricter policing policies he brought to bear in their city. The base of Federal Hill Park, where the public and media entered before ascending to the area where O’Malley spoke, was cordoned off by metal fences and guarded by security, which led to reporters far outnumbering demonstrators inside the secure perimeter.

Tawanda Jones, 36, sister of Tyrone West,  who died in police custody in 2013, was among the protesters who attempted to disrupt O’Malley’s speech from inside the park, but behind another series of gates that separated media and credentialed guests from the general public. She told reporters she believed O’Malley’s policies led directly to her brother’s death.

“My brother, who was driving while black in a Mercedes Benz, was brutally murdered, brutally beaten to death. Freddie Gray was brutally beaten to death. I blame him,” Jones, a lifelong Baltimore resident, said of O’Malley.

Though she does not support O’Malley’s candidacy, she said she has not decided who she favors in the presidential primaries and added she was hopeful O’Malley’s presence in the race will bring attention to the issues that have divided the town he still calls home.

In his remarks, O’Malley sought to move beyond the city’s policing issues to a commentary on economic opportunity more in line with what he’d like to be the central narrative of his campaign.

“Last month, television sets around the world were filled with the anger and the rage and the flames of some of the humblest and hardes-hit neighborhoods of Baltimore. For all of us who have given so much of our energies to making our city a safer, fairer, more just and more prosperous place, it was a heartbreaking night in the life of our city,” O’Malley said. “What took place here was not only about race … not only about policing in America. It’s about everything it is supposed to mean to be an American. The scourge of hopelessness that happened to ignite here that evening transcends race or geography.

“The hard truth of our shared reality is this: Unemployment in many American cities and in many small towns across the United States is higher now than it was eight years ago,” O’Malley continued. “Conditions of extreme and growing poverty create conditions for extreme violence.”

Earlier this month , O’Malley drove Yahoo News political columnist Matt Bai around Baltimore to talk about his history with the city and with trying to crack down on crime, perhaps in anticipation of the new scrutiny of his record as mayor, which might interfere with the image his campaign is seeking to project of him as a progressive.

“I wondered which he found more painful — that the city he loved had come unglued or that others might think he should shoulder the blame,” Bai wrote then.

But questions about the current situation in his home city obscure a bigger challenge for O’Malley in this race. It’s not just that Clinton is a juggernaut, or that O’Malley’s polling numbers are hovering just above zero — it’s that he is so clearly and deliberately trying to position himself as the progressive in the Democratic primary contest when Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who already is in the race, has crowded into that space ahead of him.

That leaves O’Malley with a narrower lane than he’d like and a need to argue both that he’s progressive and more electable than the other man running to Clinton’s left.

Sanders has a substantial social media following, an ease on economic equality issues and a surprisingly pragmatic congressional record despite his self-avowed socialism, the latter which could make him unappealing to more-moderate voters.  His anti-campaign finance bent and rage against the current political system  are core positions that contrast sharply with O’Malley’s record as a major party fundraiser during his tenure as the Democratic Governors Association chairman.

Building on the implementation of the Maryland-based DREAM Act, O’Malley created a higher profile for himself on immigration issues by becoming an outspoken critic of President Obama’s handling of the child migrant crisis,  causing friction with the White House  when he suggested that returning the children to their home countries in Latin America would send them back “to certain death.”

One of the speakers selected to deliver introductory remarks about O’Malley was Jonathan Jayes-Green, a Panamanian who recently graduated with honors from Baltimore’s Goucher College because of Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive order.

Once O’Malley arrived onstage, he stood in front of risers packed with dozens of supporters of all ethnicities and ages who looked as if they were plucked straight from a political stock photo meant to signify diversity and the sort of winning coalition Obama put together. Signs scattered throughout the park displayed O’Malley’s campaign slogan “New leadership” — also an obvious jab in an election that ultimately could feature a Bush versus a Clinton.

In an anti-Wall Street section of his announcement speech, he noted that both Bush and Clinton were the favorites in banking circles and appeared ready to try to tap into the populist movement in the primary electorate still disappointed that Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has declined to run for the Democratic nomination.

“The presidency is not a crown to be passed back and forth by you between two royal families,” O’Malley said in a message “to the bullies of Wall Street” and one of his biggest applause lines of the afternoon.

After the speech ended, O’Malley exited the park in an SUV, waving through the rolled-down window at the rope line, where supporters who already had cleared security checkpoints earlier in the day stood to cheer him on.

A few yards away, Nathan Leonard, a 19-year-old who lives with his parents in Baltimore and grew up in Dallas, laid out O’Malley’s place in this race as he saw it.

“Growing up in a state where you have politicians like Ted Cruz and Rick Perry in control, I’m kind of in my youth figuring out who I was and why I was gay and having my political leaders so closed-minded. … It was so refreshing to come to Maryland and have such supportive, forward-thinking politicians in power,” Leonard said. “Hillary’s record in the past — voting for the Iraq War, shady deals with the Clinton Foundation — kind of has me a little worried, and Bernie Sanders seems too far to the left, so Martin O’Malley resonates most with me.”

The trick for O’Malley will be finding more voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and the other early-voting states who think the same way.

Okay, so he talked about unemployment. How would he improve employment figures?

[musiclady]

Looks to me like it was the Democrat, O'Malley, who brought up homosexuality. Why bash the Republicans on this?

THANK you.

Though I haven't listened to Mike Huckabee, I haven't heard any Republicans volunteer any comments about homosexuality.

The obsession is coming from the left, not us.

[truth_seeker]

http://patriotnewsdaily.com/america-not-as-gay-as-people-think/

America Not as Gay as People ThinkPosted On 22 May 2015By : admin164 Comments - See more at: http://patriotnewsdaily.com/america-not-as-gay-as-people-think/#sthash.va2fqOlI.dpuf

We’re fascinated by the bizarre beliefs of those who lived long ago. To learn that people once thought the Earth was flat. To see old maps that depicted dragons and mysterious lands where giants might roam freely. We look at these old beliefs and shake our heads, so secure in the knowledge that we have come so far. In some ways, though, the things we believe today are as far off the mark as those old maps. Consider a new poll from Gallup that shows that Americans think 23% of the population is either gay or lesbian. That’s not an easy demographic to pin down, but the best estimates say that’s an overshoot of titanic proportions. A Gallup Daily Tracking poll from this year shows that only 3.8% of the adult population identifies themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. So what, right? Well, it has a significant effect on how we view this country, the policies we vote for, and the politicians we elect. It even goes further than that, deciding the kinds of beliefs we hold about ourselves, our communities, and the world at large. And though Gallup blames the overestimation on Americans’ predictably poor ability to determine demographical representation, a more obvious culprit should not be overlooked.

We’ve become a society obsessed with media. Americans devour TV shows and movies without restraint, and it has had a warping effect on the way we see the world. Proponents of same-sex marriage and other liberal policies say that this is a good thing. Gay characters in movies and shows serve to broaden our worldview, giving us empathy for those we may not meet in our day to day lives. And that’s true to an extent, but the problem is that these movies and shows do not accurately reflect the world at large. Is Gallup was asking how many modern fictional characters were gay, 23% would probably not be far off the mark. They are wildly overrepresented in the media, and that leads to some very unfortunate changes in society.

On the other side of the coin, the average American is vastly underrepresented in the media. People who go to church regularly and uphold traditional values in their personal lives are nowhere to be found. If they are there, they are made to look like weirdos and freaks, despite being far more like the average viewer than the producers would like us to think. These producers would have us believe that their art is a reflection of society, but that’s only true insofar that it’s a reflection of Hollywood, New York City, and other liberal cities. Those societies are hardly an accurate picture of America.

We would do well as a country to unplug our television sets and throw them into the backyard. We are learning how to live our lives from people in bizarre communities that have nothing to do with the way human beings are supposed to behave. It is verifiably changing the policies we support, the values we uphold, and the people we elect. Art and entertainment have always been a part of civilized society, but the line between fiction and reality has grown far too blurry. Hollywood may not reflect the real America, but it’s only a matter of time before America is a reflection of Hollywood. - See more at: http://patriotnewsdaily.com/america-not-as-gay-as-people-think/#sthash.va2fqOlI.dpuf

From a conservative blog

Conservatives and their sources do plenty to keep it in the news and stirred up, just sayin...

[musiclady]

You were accusing Republican candidates, truth_seeker.

Very, very different than some random conservative blogger.

In your anxiousness to attack all social conservatives, you dragged down all Republicans in the mud.

Be more careful.

btw, if the left weren't obsessed with homosexuality, then conservatives wouldn't have to be posting in disagreement with them.

It's the left causing the problem, not us.

[evadR]

It would not surprise me one bit that this guy is a twink or at least, semi twink.
I know he's a womanizer.   

[Paladin]

Excellent point, MusicLady:

The only reason the Republicans talk about homosexuality is that every stinking leftist media type is trying to trap them.

[Paladin]

On O'Malley's watch:

Maryland’s exchange wasted $190 million from federal taxpayers and another $20 million or so from state taxpayers on their first site before they gave up and started over on a different technology platform. They will likely request another big bailout from the governor this summer.

http://www.dailysunnews.com/news/2015/may/29/learning-obamacares-spectacular-failures/

In addition:

“In New Mexico, market leader Health Care Service Corp. is asking for an average jump of 51.6% in premiums for 2016,” the Journal reports. “The biggest insurer in Tennessee, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, has requested an average 36.3% increase. In Maryland, market leader CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield wants to raise rates 30.4% across its products. Moda Health, the largest insurer on the Oregon health exchange, seeks an average boost of around 25%.”

http://hotair.com/archives/2015/05/23/no-biggie-your-obamacare-premiums-are-going-up-way-up-in-some-cases/ (emphasis added)

Yep, ole Martin gonna be a fine choice for the Democrats. A fine choice.