Cadre of former Hart alums (including the former candidate) suit up for Martin O'Malley's campaign

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Gary Hart campaign workers, from left, Martin O'Malley, Doug Wilson, Trevor Cornwell, Chris Phillips and Gary Robinson in 1984. Wilson and Cornwell are supporting O’Malley’s presidential bid. (Photo courtesy of Debbie Shore)


___Hart alums remember O’Malley as indefatigable and persistent. Several recounted the time he was found him asleep in the supply closet at Hart’s Washington headquarters, after he had pulled consecutive all-nighters.

“He would sleep on anyone’s floor,” said James Dwinell, who managed the Hart campaign’s finances. “He would eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and dinner.”

O’Malley was once sent to Ohio to enlist 500 volunteers for the campaign, former Hart aides said. He disappeared for a few days, only to be found playing his guitar on the steps of the state capitol — where he had signed up 488 people.



George Appleby, left, with Martin O'Malley at the Iowa vs. University of Maryland game in 2014. Both men worked for Gary Hart in 1984, now Appleby is chairing O’Malley’s Iowa campaign. (Photo courtesy George Appleby)


To some Hart alums, O’Malley’s White House bid feels like a continuation of Hart’s journey. Like Hart, O’Malley has tried to cast himself as part of a new generation of leaders, touting his experience in Baltimore and Annapolis using technology to help govern and deploy resources.

Hart could be awkward with people, didn’t like to raise money and often balked at giving the same speech and sound bites again and again on the campaign trail. O’Malley, by contrast, smiles through just about every public appearance and brings a workmanlike discipline to dialing for dollars and repeating his talking points.

As was the case with Hart, supporting O’Malley requires a leap of faith. And the Hart alums know it. George Appleby, O’Malley’s Iowa chair, said he still believes in backing the candidate he thinks is best, rather than the one who right now seems positioned to win.

“I had an idealism then. I think I have an idealism now, certainly tempered by my 67 years,” Appleby said. “If you haven’t had your heart broken in politics, you haven’t really supported anybody.”


read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-omalleys-longshot-candidacy-a-chance-to-reclaim-gary-harts-dream/2015/06/08/dd1cd29c-0492-11e5-a428-c984eb077d4e_story.html

[MohRokTah]

1. I will never forgive Gary Hart, personally.

I started out the 1984 primaries in support of Hart. He was on his way and I truly believe he could have won it all.

But his ego got bigger than the task at hand and he just had to blow it all by thinking with his pecker.

I can say with honesty, I believe I have a good grasp of how Edwards supporters felt in 2008.

I moved over to support Jackson and ended up voting for Mondale in the general election.

The rest you know.

Edited to add: I wish I knew which workers knew about Hart's indiscretion before it came out. I doubt there were many.

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2. I think the obsession with these candidate's sex lives is absurd

...I didn't want to know about Hart's, Clinton's, or Edward's (although my heart certainly went out to the ailing Elizabeth)

That said, I think you're wasting keystrokes and ignoring a fascinating article.

[MohRokTah]

3. Just showing how the mere mention of Hart turns off some Democrats.

You have to be of a certain age, though. The yunguns' won't be phased by the bringing together of the old Gary Hart campaign team.

From where I sit, I believe most people who would prefer a candidate other than Hilary Clinton should probably get behind Bernie Sanders, but everybody will have their own take.

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4. as well they shouldn't

...the campaign's volunteers didn't do anything wrong.

What I like about the article is how this 'cadre' of Hart alums, in pooling their time for Martin O'Malley, is looking to rekindle some of the expectations they had for the Hart candidacy. It's a powerful notion which amplifies the quixotic and generational nature of his ambitious, long-shot bid.

[snooper2]

10. Sure you are LOL

We don't need any more Clintons, no more fucking Bushs...

and we need somebody who can relate to everybody-

MARTIN O'MALLEY!



But, your concern is noted

[FSogol]

13. Why? O'Malley has an excellent record of accomplishments, not just talk. n/t

[Bluenorthwest]

6. And yet Edwards, with the presence and support of his late wife, exploited bigotry against other

people's sexuality during his campaign and did so in explicitly hypocritical fashion. He would stand next to her and preach about his Baptist Deacon Daddy, and 'traditional, one man and one woman marriage'. He'd say 'It's just a part of me, I can't help it, I see marriage as a sacred Union and I can't cross that bridge to support gay marriage.'
So he's the one who brought it up. He's the one who claimed to be Mr Purity, Sir Sanctified, and Liz nodded along with him knowing he was lying, knowing he was tarnishing a minority group, punching down as they say, in order to obtain more wealth and power which they both desired.
My heart goes out to her for being ill, but that does not excuse being a lying bigot nor the assistant to a lying bigot and the prop used to sell that lie. They were in fact sanctimonious, dishonest and hugely bigoted, self serving, insulting and religiously mendacious.
John is a lawyer. He knows he opened up that area of questioning himself.
People still come to DU saying 'but he spoke of the Two Americas'. That's a fact. He spoke of straight white rich America abusing minority America for their own fucking advantage. He endorsed a double standard for Americans, the Baptist Daddy Standards.

[Chan790]

8. I'm with you.

I've thought about running for office. The first thing I'm going to do is be totally open about those things because they can't be a scandal if early-on, you're out front saying "Hey I'm kinky, poly, gender non-conforming and somewhat less than straight...and it doesn't affect my ability to do the job I'm running for!"

[DemocratSinceBirth]

7. I believe you have your election cycles confused.

Gary Hart's affair was discovered during the 88 primaries.

[1939]

9. 1988 was the Hart "Monkey Business" debacle

1984, Mondale got him on "Where's the beef, Gary?"

1988 Democratic diet: No Rice on weekends.

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5. kick

[Koinos]

11. Most interesting to me about this article

is what it tells us about the drive and dedication of the young O'Malley.

No matter what the polls show, he is not to be underestimated.

I also like the idea of the "old guys" coming out of retirement to support him.

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12. it's a revealing essay

...about the idealism of these folks in their youth and the way they've held on to that persistent desire to see that high-mindedness transformed into something real and sustaining decades later. They still believe in the power of ideas in campaigns and O'Malley is a promising representation of the best of that generational promise and ambition to see all of that through.

[FSogol]

14. +1. True. n/t

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15. kick

[ChisolmTrailDem]

16. K & R. nt

[hifiguy]

17. Interesting. I was for many years a fan of Hart's

and was very disappointed by the 1988 crap, though I couldn't care less about any particular politician's sex life if they push the right policies.

I am a Bernie supporter but will definitely be listening to O'Malley. I like what I have heard from him so far, and a solid debate about ideas and policies is always good for the party.

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