May 30, 2015-Former Gov. Martin O'Malley Launches Presidential Campaign, Main Page

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Calls for Rebuilding the American Dream

photo 1 of martin o'malley announcement speech

May 30, 2015--On a warm day at Federal Hill Park in Baltimore, the city where he served as mayor from 1999 to 2006, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley on Saturday launched his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination declaring that, "Our economic and political system is upside down and backwards and it is time to turn it around."

"We are allowing our land of opportunity to become a land of inequality," O'Malley stated. "Together, as one people we must build an American economy that works again for all of us," O'Malley said. He called for policies as a higher minimum wage, making it easier for workers to organize and bargain collectively, and comprehensive immigration reform to "bring 11 million of our neighbors out of the shadows."

Addressing the rioting that occurred in Baltimore a month ago following the death of Freddie Gray in police custody, O'Malley said the unrest "was not only about race, not only about policing in America; it was about everything it is supposed to mean to be an American."

Taking on "the privileged and the powerful," O'Malley said, "We need to prosecute cheats, we need to reinstate Glass-Steagall, and if a bank is too big to fail without wrecking our nation’s economy, then we need to break it up before it breaks us up again." He also made a bit of a jab at the perceived frontrunner, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, stating, "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."

Among his accomplishments O'Malley frequently cites Maryland's raise in the minimum wage, which he signed into law in May 2014; his support of the Maryland Dream Act, which provided for in-state tuition for undocumented students, approved by voters in Nov. 2012,; and his leadership on same-sex marriage, also approved by voters in Nov. 2012. Other accomplishments include his work in cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay and the state's AAA bond rating. He has done very interesting work on performance measurement and management, through StateStat and earlier CitiStat. O'Malley finished his two terms as governor in January 2015. Seeking to appeal to progressives O'Malley has highlighted his support for the Central American minors who surged across the Southern border in summer 2014 and his opposition to the Trans Pacific Partnership.

O'Malley has been seen as a likely presidential candidate for about a year and a half, since a speech at the New Hampshire Democratic Party's Jefferson-Jackson Dinner on Nov. 16, 2013 (+). Subsequently he has made occasional visits to the early states of New Hampshire (8 visits, 9 days), Iowa (6 visits, 11 days) and South Carolina (6 visits, 6 days). O'Malley's political action committee also paid to put staff on the ground to help Democratic campaigns in the 2014 midterm elections. However, he suffered an embarrassing setback when his chosen successor, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, was defeated in Nov. 2014.

O'Malley joins Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) as announced Democratic candidates; former Gov. Lincoln Chafee (RI) is set to announce his candidacy on June 3 and former Sen. Jim Webb (VA) has also been exploring a possible campaign. Clinton, who announced on April 12, is seen by most observers as the far-and-away frontrunner; she has formidable establishment support and fundraising prowess, and a very large campaign organization. However, she continues to be dogged by questions on everything from emails to Benghazi and is seen as too centrist by some Democrats. Further, she has conducted a very tightly scripted campaign thus far, and is constrained by her Secret Service bubble, creating dynamics which could prove problematic in early states where grassroots, retail politics is prized. Her rocky relations with the media could cause difficulties as well. Sanders, a populist firebrand, may be the epitome of a grassroots campaigner, but as a self-declared socialist he is seen by most observers as unelectable. There is a path for O'Malley as a young, attractive, progressive alternative to Clinton, but it remains to be seen if he can excite Democratic voters. [speech transcript]





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