Martin O’Malley Rails at Democrats for Debate Schedule ‘Rigged’ to Aid Hillary Clinton

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Martin O’Malley Rails at Democrats for Debate Schedule ‘Rigged’ to Aid Hillary Clinton
 

MINNEAPOLIS – Martin O’Malley had one clear chance to make waves within the Democratic National Committee, and he seized it, delivering a fiery speech Friday that condemned his party’s leadership for what he called a process “rigged” to help Hillary Rodham Clinton — namely, curtailing the number of presidential primary debates.

Accusing party leaders of trying to keep Democratic ideas hidden as the Republican presidential candidates spew “racist hate” from their debate lecterns, Mr. O’Malley, the former Maryland governor and mayor of Baltimore, questioned the decision to hold “four debates and four debates only” before the first four states finish voting.

“This is totally unprecedented in our party’s history,” Mr. O’Malley said. “This sort of rigged process has never been attempted before. Whose decree is it exactly? Where did it come from? To what end? For what purpose? What national or party interest does this decree serve? How does this help us tell the story of the last eight years of Democratic progress?”

While Mr. O’Malley never named the party’s chairwoman, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, his remarks about the debates were clearly aimed at her – and she sat looking grim throughout, barely clapping, and appeared angry when she shook his hand once he finished.

He did not name Mrs. Clinton in his speech, either, but Mr. O’Malley was asked afterward if he thought the debate schedule had been arranged for her benefit. “Yes, I think so. Don’t you?” he replied.

While Mr. O’Malley has been deeply critical of the party for weeks over the debate schedule, this was a frontal attack on the party’s leadership from its own stage. Without endorsements or many major donors, Mr. O’Malley has little to lose.

But he was giving voice to a complaint that a growing number of party committee members have been making privately. Those members, mindful that Mrs. Clinton’s standing in some polls has sagged lately, have been concerned about a process that could ultimately do the party a disservice.

But delivering such a raw speech startled Democrats at the party’s summer meeting, although it was met with cheers from the crowd.

Mr. O’Malley, a lifelong Democrat and onetime chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, seemed comfortable playing the insurgent as he took the stage.

He urged Democrats to draw a sharp contrast with the discourse among the Republican presidential candidates. “Silence and complacency in the face of hate is not an honorable option,” he said, alluding to Donald J. Trump’s divisive remarks about immigration and women. “We must stand before the American people and show them we have a better way.”

Mr. O’Malley pointed out that the New Hampshire debate, the only one to be held before that state’s primary, was set for a weekend in December, when many people will be distracted with Christmas shopping and family obligations. (“At home we would call that too cute by half,” he told reporters after his speech.)

Later, he acknowledged that he was not the only liberal candidate in the race, but trumpeted his accomplishments in Maryland, including signing a law extending in-state tuition rates to college students who are in the country illegally.

At the moment, Mr. O’Malley is polling in the low single digits in almost every public survey, and he has been fighting to gain traction as Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, has drawn a huge following.

But Mr. O’Malley’s bold showing Friday seemed an attempt to remind party members attending the meeting that, if Mr. Sanders falters, Mr. O’Malley could be a credible alternative to Mrs. Clinton.

http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/08/28/martin-omalley-rails-at-democrats-for-debate-schedule-rigged-to-aid-hillary-clinton/?_r=1

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Democratic challengers launch attacks against Clinton, party leadership
 
Martin O'Malley blasted the Democratic Party for what he called a "rigged" debate process in the presidential nominating contest. (C-SPAN)
By Philip Rucker, Anne Gearan and Dan Balz August 28 at 10:17 PM

MINNEAPOLIS — Hillary Rodham Clinton sought to cement her standing as the rightful leader of the Democratic Party here Friday, but two of her challengers launched a fierce counterattack against her and a party establishment they see as trying to hand her the 2016 presidential nomination.

What began as a routine forum of candidate speeches evolved into a surprisingly dramatic day at the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting, as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley issued thinly veiled attacks on Clinton and the party leadership.

Speaking from the dais, with DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz sitting a few feet away, O’Malley blasted the party’s limited number of sanctioned debates as a process “rigged” in favor of the front-runner. The DNC is holding six debates, only four before February’s first caucuses in Iowa, which O’Malley argued is a disadvantage for all the candidates and a disservice to Democrats generally.

“This sort of rigged process has never been attempted before,” said O’Malley, who has struggled to gain traction in the polls. He added: “We are the Democratic Party, not the undemocratic party.”

Sanders — who later told reporters he agreed with O’Malley — lamented low Democratic turnout in last year’s midterm elections and said the party must grow beyond “politics as usual” if it hopes to produce the level of voter enthusiasm required to retain the White House in 2016.
Democratic presidential candidate and senator Bernie Sanders on Friday called for taking on “the economic and political establishment.” (Craig Lassig/Reuters)

“We need a movement which takes on the economic and political establishment, not one which is part of that establishment,” said Sanders, who is an independent but caucuses with Democrats in the Senate.

Asked later whether he was speaking specifically about Clinton, he told reporters, “I’ll let you use your imagination on that.”

The barbs from Sanders and O’Malley came as Clinton and her campaign flexed their organizational muscle here. The front-
runner and her top aides worked aggressively behind the scenes this week to secure commitments from party leaders pledging to be delegates for her in next summer’s nominating convention in Philadelphia.

Clinton’s organizational push sent a clear signal to Vice President Biden, who has been weighing a late entry into the 2016 campaign, that he would begin far behind her.
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In her address to a ballroom full of DNC members, Clinton sought to position herself as the undisputed Democratic standard-
bearer. She fired up the party faithful with a call to arms against Republicans as dangerously out of touch and peppered her remarks with gibes at current GOP front-runner Donald Trump — including a suggestion that his hair, although natural, is dyed like her own.

“The party of Lincoln has become the party of Trump,” Clinton said. She mocked Trump for suggesting that she did not understand women’s health issues and that he would be a better advocate. “Now that’s a general election debate that’s going to be a lot of fun,” she said.

Clinton said that Trump is getting most of the media attention this summer but that the other Republican candidates are making statements that ought to scare mainstream voters. “They’re Trump without the pizazz and the hair,” she said.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton attempted to cement her position as front-runner at a Democratic National Committee meeting in Minneapolis on Friday. (Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)

Clinton made no reference in her speech to the controversy surrounding her use of a private ­e-mail server while secretary of state. When asked about it later in a news conference, Clinton said: “I have said repeatedly that I did not send nor receive classified material, and I’m very confident when this entire process plays out, that will be understood by everyone. It will prove what I have been saying.”

Former Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee raised eyebrows when he touted himself as ­scandal-free in his remarks. He later said this was not “a direct swipe at anybody.” But pressed on how Clinton has handled the ­e-mail issue, Chafee said: “The rules are the rules, and we all have to adhere to them, and when you don’t, you suffer the consequences. Unfortunately this is self-
inflicted.”

The fifth declared candidate, former senator Jim Webb of Virginia, did not attend because he was taking his daughter to college.

O’Malley used his time onstage to highlight his dissatisfaction with the DNC’s management of the debates. He argued forcefully that as Trump and other Republican candidates dominate news coverage with inflammatory rhetoric, Democrats would be wise to hold more, not fewer, nationally televised debates to highlight the differences between the parties.

“Will we let the circus run unchallenged on every channel while we cower in shadows under a decree of silence in the ranks? Or will we demand equal time to showcase our ideas?” O’Malley asked.

He slammed what he called a “cynical move” to limit the debates to six and to hold the only New Hampshire debate on a Saturday night in mid-December, the peak of the holiday shopping season.

“Whose decree is this exactly?” he asked provocatively. “Where did it come from? To what end or purpose?”

Wasserman Schultz, who was visibly miffed by O’Malley’s speech, said in an interview Thursday that she had consulted widely with past DNC chairs, as well as with the campaigns, before setting the debate schedule.

“We felt like this structure for actual debates was really the best one that could give maximum exposure that voters need to make a decision but that also would be manageable and give the candidates the opportunity and the time to go out and campaign in a retail way,” she said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/democratic-challengers-launch-attacks-against-clinton-party-leadership/2015/08/28/722bc1c6-4d9b-11e5-84df-923b3ef1a64b_story.html