Martin O’Malley: There’s More To My Campaign Than Debate Fight.
“The theme of my campaign is not about process. It’s about the actions that we need to take to help rebuild the American dream, and make wages go up rather than down. And so that’s what I focus on wherever I speak.”
On Saturday, at the New Hampshire Democratic Party convention, O’Malley witnessed his biggest victory yet: Dozens of attendees rallied the hall into boos and chants for more debates during a speech by the DNC chair, Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. “C’mon, folks. We’re all on the same side,” she said over the noise.
But when it was his turn to take the podium, O’Malley did not talk about the Democratic debates, or the “We Need Debate” campaign, or the supporters who helped interrupt Wasserman-Schultz earlier in the day. He gave his standard speech, hitting on his record as governor of Maryland, his 15 “strategic goals to rebuild the American Dream” — and only alluded to the issue with a few passing references to the “unanswered” Republican debates.
Afterward, reporters wanted to know: Where was the victory lap!
“Local democrats and media members were wondering,” one asked, “why not make that more of a focal point with the crowd being obviously be so into that message?”
O’Malley, still polling in the low single-digits, appeared eager to remind his questioner that his campaign is not, in fact, a campaign for more Democratic debates. It is a campaign for president.
“The theme of my campaign is not about process. It’s about the actions that we need to take to help rebuild the American dream, and make wages go up rather than down,” O’Malley said, standing with a few aides backstage at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester. “And so that’s what I focus on wherever I speak. When I jump up on a chair I often will mention that we should be having more debates rather than fewer.” . .
The center of my campaign is not about a process. It’s about a country. Our country. And what we need to do to create a better life for our kids,” he said.
As for why he didn’t highlight the debates in his speech on Saturday, O’Malley noted that the convention marked the first time the candidates appeared at the same event in New Hampshire. (Clinton spoke first, followed by O’Malley; Bernie Sanders, the senator from Vermont; Lincoln Chafee, the former governor and senator from Rhode Island; and Lawrence Lessig, the Harvard Law professor. Jim Webb, another Democratic candidate, did not attend.)
“The issue of having more debates is certainly an important one,” O’Malley said. “And certainly the crowd made their opinion known when the chair spoke.”. .
On Saturday, speaking with reporters after his speech, O’Malley argued that the party, and all its candidates, would suffer for every Republican debate without a Democratic counterpart. “Wy would you turn over the microphone?” he said. “I think most Democrats are pretty upset by it, and the DNC members themselves were never even consulted. This was a one-woman edict.”
And what about his campaign, a reporter asked. How was he going to get his numbers up?
“You got to keep going,” O’Malley replied.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/rubycramer/martin-omalley-theres-more-to-my-campaign-than-debate-fight#.yrVDJb91X