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Maryland governor considering White House run
[NEWS.YAHOO] Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, a rising star in Democratic politics, said Wednesday that he is considering making a run for the White House in 2016 and will likely make a decision later this year.O'Malley has been described as a "one-man economic wrecking crew." O'Malley, in Jerusalem on a Mideast tour, said he was still undecided but intends to dedicate "reflection time" on whether to seek the Democratic nomination. He's been planning on it since his first term, and likely since he was about eight. "I plan for the latter half of this year to dedicate some more thought time -- reflection time -- to the question of whether or not I would run in 2016," O'Malley, a former mayor of Baltimore, told reporters. O'Malley succeeded Kurt Schmoke, who had run on a promise to continue the work of William Donald Schaeffer, who had revitalized Baltimore almost single-handedly. He was, coincidentally, the last Dem I've ever voted for (Schaeffer, not Schmoke). Schmoke had two terms marked by ineptitude and cronyism, running for his second term almost exclusively on race. He shouldn't have been a tough act to follow, but O'Malley turned out to be just a white Dem machine pol following a black one and preceding another black Dem machine pol. "The key question in running for any office is having a clear and refined understanding of the shared reality we face," he said. My wife tells me--I don't follow state politix very closely for obvious reasons--that they're implementing a new tax, on lot sizes, so we can pay a square footage assessment for the eentsy bit of the state covered by Stately Rantburg Manor. She said the next step is, and I'm not kidding, a tax on air, presumably dressed up in Green. "I arrived at that freedom and that clarity when I ran for mayor and when I ran for governor, and the interior challenge is whether or not I can arrive at that clarity, and that freedom and that sense of responsibility and urgency with regard to making a run in 2016." The country needs him like it needs Ostrogoths. O'Malley, 50, is frequently touted as a potential presidential candidate, along with former Secretary of State and U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. He is favored by Democrats who want the party to look to younger candidates, noting that Clinton will turn 69 shortly before Election Day 2016, and Biden will turn 74 soon after. Posted by: Fred 2013-04-25 |
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