The Democratic Primary is arguably shaping up to be a long, drawn-out coronation ceremony for Hillary Clinton. The Left has seemingly produced no other viable candidates with the name recognition and broad appeal that Clinton seems to carry. Given her massive support from wealthy donors and the GOP’s complete inability to unite behind any one candidate (not to mention some loony social policies that seem designed to alienate anyone who isn’t a straight white male), Clinton may have very little to do next November besides walk into the White House and claim her throne. However, Hillary may have found her first real stumbling block in the form of a man who, until this past weekend, few people had heard of.
Martin O’Malley is a career politician from Maryland with a fairly left-of-center track record. He served on the Baltimore City Council at the age of only 28 before becoming Mayor of Baltimore and eventually Governor of Maryland. His track record looks pretty good from a Democrat’s point of view. He implemented policies designed to help the children of illegal immigrants and has been pro-gay marriage, anti-gun, and anti-death penalty. He has also openly attacked investment firms, referring to Wall Street’s elite as “the bullies of Wall Street.” While attacking Wall Street in such a direct, almost gut-level way certainly means a loss of some potentially deep-pocketed friends, it also serves to stake out O’Malley as a truly progressive candidate, ostensibly unconcerned with catering to the big wigs and fat cats. Similar outsider tactics have reaped fellow Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders unexpectedly large swells of support. While Sanders, a self-proclaimed socialist, is probably too radical for the general American public to embrace, O’Malley could be the go-to candidate for progressives who feel uncomfortable with the thought of voting for a Democrat whose Democratic credentials are far from spotless.
In addition to her rather unfortunate support of the War in Iraq and previous noncommittal statements on issues such as gay marriage and immigration, Clinton is going to have a hard time galvanizing even centrist Democrats, let alone the most Left-leaning of the party. O’Malley’s Wall Street remarks put Hillary’s embrace of the establishment into even sharper contrast. Hillary’s campaign contributions list reads like a veritable who’s-who of investment firms and Wall Street insiders. Bill Clinton’s insanely lucrative post-presidential speaking tour earned the couple 118 million dollars, 6.4 of which came from top banks. It’s going to be hard for Hillary to brand herself as the people’s choice when such close ties to the very embodiments of big business checker her career.
O’Malley further attacked Clinton and even dragged potential future opponent Jeb Bush into the fray when he declared that the American presidency is not a title that should be passed back and forth between two political dynasties. This may be the most accurate philosophic encapsulation of O’Malley’s appeal. He can plausibly claim to represent the little guy. He appears to not have close ties to power and actively, publicly rejects the big-business donors who he would obviously need to court in order to face the Clinton steamroller. He represents a true outsider, a true David to Hillary’s Goliath. That’s a narrative that could be appealing to both the über-Leftists who want to support a proven liberal without throwing their votes away on Sanders, and the centrist Democrats who can’t even be sure that Hillary isn’t actually a closet Republican. If Hillary doesn’t watch herself in the coming months, her ascent may be anything but smooth sailing.