The World’s Worst Candidate sends the former governor of Maryland a message, as Byron York reports:
Recently, a representative from the Hillary Clinton camp delivered a message to Martin O’Malley, the former Maryland governor preparing to challenge Clinton for the 2016 Democratic nomination. I have some good news and some bad news, the messenger said.
What’s the good news? asked O’Malley. The good news is we’re taking you seriously, the messenger answered. And the bad news is … we’re taking you seriously.
The undertone of threat was unmistakable, but anyone who takes on Clintonworld has to expect that. And indeed, pro-O’Malley Democrats — there are some — are not at all surprised by the tone. “They are the most petty, vengeful people out there,” says one Democrat of the Clinton organization. “They hold a grudge for decades. I don’t think he [O’Malley] expected them to welcome him with a fruit basket.”
And Clintonworld has reason to be concerned. Yes, Hillary’s lead is huge, and yes, she is at this point the presumptive Democratic nominee. But there are already emerging signs that the coronation might not go as planned.
Might? Hillary Clinton is toast, but apparently she is the last one to understand that. The reason O’Malley is getting any traction at all is that even Democrats are heartily sick of Mrs. Clinton; she has about as much chance of winning her case in front of the electorate as Jeb Bush has with Republican voters.
It’s early yet, but O’Malley’s declaration last Sunday — “The presidency of the United States is not some crown to be passed between two families” — is probably the best line of the campaign so far. If you took a poll to gauge public opinion on that turn of phrase, approval would likely be very, very high.”It was a very effective line,” says another Democrat. “And it’s the first time he’s taken a swing — he’s always deferred in the past.”
No more. O’Malley is acting like a real candidate now, traveling, hiring staff and fashioning a message. Democratic insiders point to three factors that could help O’Malley turn a non-race into a race.
Let’s hope so. There is no reason — zero — that Hillary Rodham Clinton, a woman of no accomplishment, should ever be president. Besides, we already have a man of no accomplishment in that job and look how well that’s turned out. But apparently the Democrats think the White House is an affirmative-action post, to be given first to a minority and now to a woman. Time for them to learn otherwise, the hard way.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member