Campaigning in Iowa, 2016 hopeful Martin O’Malley is keeping the faith.
DES MOINES—Martin O’Malley was running a little late for 8:30 a.m. Mass. But he and a pair of aides managed to slide into a back pew without creating a stir.
Dressed in jeans and an Under Armour crew shirt, the Democratic presidential hopeful made eye contact with an infant whose car seat was perched on the pew in front of his. For the next 50 minutes, O’Malley sat quietly and took communion, enjoying a rare period of solitude during his latest whirlwind swing through the nation’s first caucus state.
During the homily, the priest at St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Catholic Church spoke of finding “the courage and the strength to live our faith.” His words weren’t aimed directly at O’Malley — in fact, no one in the church seemed to recognize the former Maryland governor and mayor of Baltimore — but they might as well have been.
Stuck in the single digits in the polls, O’Malley spent the summer trudging across about a third of Iowa’s 99 counties, without the fanfare of frontrunner Hillary Rodham Clinton or the large crowds of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the democratic socialist sensation. Over Labor Day weekend alone, O’Malley logged more than 600 miles as he hit nine campaign events, shaking hands with scores of likely caucus-goers.
O’Malley says he is guided by his faith in the political process here, one that tells him that if he just keeps going, he can win over enough Democrats between now and February to defy expectations and become a real factor in the nomination fight.
During a stretch when voters appear drawn to the angriest candidates, O’Malley has adopted a decidedly different persona. He is the happy warrior. Like Sanders, he laments the nation’s growing income inequality and job insecurity — but he almost always does it with a smile.
O’Malley tells jokes, some at his own expense. Unlike his better-known rivals, he lingers at events long enough to have conversations with many of the party activists who will determine his future. . .
“My Iowa team is very, very good,” O’Malley told a reporter tagging along in the back seat, joking that the exchangewas an example of building support “one plate of scrambled eggs at a time.”
He said he was convinced that the race was about to enter a new phase, where voters will be less motivated by the anger and frustration that he believes is behind the rise of Sanders on the Democratic side and Donald Trump on the Republican side.
“People never nominate angry, in either party, really,” O’Malley said. “I’m not intimidated by low numbers, as long as I see the signs on the road of what my instincts tell me is happening. I know it’s hard for people in Washington and New York to see just yet.”
‘You should be doing better’
About two dozen people were waiting at picnic tables set up on Larry Hodgden’s front lawn in the small town of Tipton when O’Malley’s SUV rolled up.
Hodgden is the Democratic party chair in Cedar County. He announced to the small crowd that he was endorsing the former governor for the Democratic nomination.
“He’s the man with the experience to be able to do the job,” Hodgden told his guests. “We need somebody with integrity in the White House.”
Hodgden’s was one of 17 endorsements the O’Malley campaign has rolled out during the past week. There were also five other county chairmen, two state legislators and a former congressman.
None had the name recognition of some of Clinton’s endorsers — a group that includes former Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) — but most were activists well-known in their jurisdictions, with reputations for working hard on behalf of their preferred Democrats.
There was an awkward moment during the Sunday afternoon stop in Tipton. A local television reporter began his interview with O’Malley with this statement: “I think you should be doing better than you are.”
“Ah, thank you,” the candidate replied.
Wining folks over
The next morning, at a popular pancake house in Jackson County, O’Malley made light of his standing in the race. . .
O’Malley fielded questions on an array of topics, including his philosophy on national security, his views on how to improve mental health services and his thoughts on what the balance should be between capitalism and socialism. The latter question was prompted by how well Sanders is doing in the race, the man who asked it said.
O’Malley said what the United States has now is “a sort of rigged capitalism,” where the big banks and other corporate interests have too much power. But, he added: “I don’t believe socialism is the way to go.”
Judy Collins, a 73-year-old nurse, said she appreciated that O’Malley is not a “table banger” like Sanders. Collins said she was impressed by the candidate’s “plans and thoughts” and said she had been leaning in another direction even before she drove from Davenport to hear him.
“I really intended to caucus for Hillary,” she said. “I don’t think she’d be a bad president. I don’t think Bernie would be a bad president, or Joe Biden if he gets in the race. But I heard something today that really grabbed me.”
No ‘magic dust’
Before leaving the state, O’Malley hit two Labor Day picnics, one in Dubuque, the other in Iowa City.
The Dubuque event drew a sizable number of Clinton supporters, judging from the stickers many participants wore. O’Malley gamely chatted and posed for pictures with many of them anyway.
Walt Pregler, the chairman of the Dubuque County Democrats, said his “dream ticket” would consist of Clinton for president and O’Malley for vice president.
“I don’t see any magic dust falling over Dubuque County and him emerging as the winner here,” Pregler said.
In Iowa City, Sanders seemed the most popular candidate, judging by the large number of picnic attendees wearing “Bernie for President” t-shirts. But the crowd applauded when O’Malley gave a talk in a picnic shelter, most enthusiastically when he called for overturning Citizens United, the Supreme Court decision that has led to a flood of big-donor money in politics.
“I’d be proud to be your second choice,” O’Malley told retired law professor Nicholas Johnson, one of those in a Sanders shirt, after his talk
“You have been all along,” Johnson replied.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/campaigning-in-iowa-2016-hopeful-martin-omalley-is-keeping-the-faith/2015/09/09/ce0725be-56f9-11e5-8bb1-b488d231bba2_story.html