O'Malley Warns Dems: 2016 Is 'Not a Slam Dunk.'

[elleng]

'In his first public appearance since suspending his presidential campaign last month, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley warned that the general election is not a "slam-dunk" for Democrats even in the face of Donald Trump's polarizing candidacy and possible nomination by Republicans.

"I believe the level of anger in our country is such that, yes, this is not a slam dunk," O'Malley said at a forum hosted by the Georgetown Institute of Politics.

"There's a certain smugness inside the beltway in Washington. So I think we have our work cut out for us. This could be a very, very defining moment in the life of our republic."

O'Malley said that Democrats "have our work cut out for us, both in calling out [Trump's] fascism with clarity, without being shrill, without being angry ourselves," but also in offering a positive vision for the country.

"Just as importantly, we have to tell the larger story of how these decisions we make together will affect your lives and your kids lives," he said.

While he was sounding the alarm on Trump's potential strength in the general electrion, O'Malley also targeted the Democratic Party as partly to blame for the GOP frontrunner's rise. The erstwhile Democratic underdog sharply criticized Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, though not by name, for, he said, unilaterally deciding to delay the start of the Democratic debates until the late fall.

"It was a great disservice to the republic, actually, that we let that immigrant-bashing carnival barker, fascist demagogue Donald Trump have full run" of the media coverage of the election through the summer, O'Malley said.

Trump, he added, "grew into a phenomenon over those summer months, while we heard nothing from the Democratic Party," and when the Democratic candidates did debate, the events were scheduled at inconvenient times when Americans were unlikely to watch. That schedule did indeed draw criticism not just from O'Malley but also from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' campaign, both of which charged that Wasserman Schultz and the Democratic establishment were trying to inappropriately protect Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton by effectively hiding the debates.'>>>

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/o-malley-warns-dems-2016-not-slam-dunk-n544276

[farleftlib]

1. He nailed it

Particularly with regards to DWS and her total mismanagement of the primary and how it allowed "that immigrant-bashing carnival barker, fascist demagogue Donald Trump" to run his mouth without a sane counterpoint to be heard. Sigh.

[snooper2]

2. Hell yeah- Sad O'Malley never got traction- No thanks to Debbie Asserwoman Schultz

[etherealtruth]

4. That's exactly what I was thinking

[DavidDvorkin]

3. I look forward to having the chance to vote for him in the future.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

5. Far, far from a slam dunk. :(

And if anyone thinks Clinton. vs. Trump is going to be some cakewalk for her, I am here to say you are nuts.

[elleng]

7. Right. 'If we are going to nominate someone who 50% of our people can't stand,

Last edited Wed Mar 23, 2016, 06:00 PM - Edit history (1)

we will fail.'

Marco Rubio

[libdem4life]

8. Here's the rub...what if both parties nominate someone who 50% can't stand?

My guess we'll be well on our way to being our own Banana Republic and will have representatives from the Central and South Americas volunteering to watch the voting process. I'm sure Jimmy Carter taught them well.

At worst, we'll make a mockery of what used to be our highest ideal and also social/political experiment...Democracy.

And I have noticed the change in our foreign "affairs", where we used to support and strongly pressure for regime change. Now, we just do the deed for them. Use authoritarian might to force egalitarian democracy. Both of the favored candidates would continue that trend. Shameful.

Meanwhile, the term Conscious Objector is being trotted out like an archaic 60s Coward's Run to Canada. We Boomers were anti-war like Bernie. And, everything we/he said back then has turned out right.

ETA: Regime change...only if they are relatively small, poor countries whose citizens tend to be brown or black skinned. Kosova/Bosnia excepted.

[elleng]

9. Right, heading there right now:

[libdem4life]

10. Wow, what a graphic! n/t

[Koinos]

11. Great!

But it made me hungry.

[Eleanors38]

6. No hock, Sherlock.