A serious question for Martin O'Malley supporters: who are you?

[nxylas]

Please believe me when I say that I mean no disrespect to you or your candidate when I ask that. It's just that the narrative regarding Hillary v Bernie is fairly clear. To put it broadly, in the least inflammatory way that I can, Hillary appeals to more establishment Dems and Bernie to those on the left of the party. But I am still trying to figure out what distinguishes Mr O'Malley from the other two candidates, or what section of the Democratic Party he appeals to. So I figured the best way to find out was to ask.

[DavidDvorkin]

1. I'm on the left of the party

I support O'Malley rather than Sanders because I think he would be more effective in the White House and would have a better chance of winning the general election.

A more general problem for me is age. I'm 72, and I consider both Clinton and Sanders too old. I want to see youthful energy in high office.

[hedgehog]

4. +1 - except I'm only 61.

[leftofcool]

2. As a Hillary supporter I will say this.

M'OM is stronger on gun control than than either Hillary or Sanders and is stronger on climate change that Hillary or Sanders. I think he fist somewhere in between the two candidates on most issues.

[askew]

7. He's better than both on immigration and refugee issues as well.

O'Malley's been calling undocumented Americans "New Americans" since at least 2010. He hasn't been using the derogatory term "illegal immigrants" like Hillary did just last week. He's also gone further than either have on immigration policy. He's also done more than both of them on immigration.

Out of all of the issues in this election, this is where O'Malley is light-years ahead of the others.

I think Sanders is better on income inequality issues.

I think Hillary is better on healthcare.

[jberryhill]

3. An alien species from a highly advanced civilization

They have lived among us, learned our ways, and now are seeking to advance our civilization.

That's my theory about them anyway.

I believe they come in peace and seek to advance our better interests.

[Raine1967]

9. That made me laugh.

and I appreciate it!

O'M,
Raine

[jberryhill]

10. I, for one, welcome our new genial and reasonable overlords

[Raine1967]

11. HOW DARE YOU SAY SUCH A THING!

(Is that better? I used caps and provided outrage with complete non sequitor)

Seriously, I personally find it easier to be nice and just support my candidate than try to tear down others. We are all supposed to be on the same side for the same things— it's simply that we have candidates who have a different way of getting what we (as members of this party) want achieved.

[elleng]

5. I am a liberal Democrat,

and I want a candidate and a POTUS who has EXPERIENCE as an executive, who has achieved the difficult job of managing a large government, who is progressive, and Governor O'Malley is the only candidate who fits the bill.

Read about him here, please: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1281

Here's why I support him:

Martin O'Malley:

1. Ended death penalty in Maryland
2. Prevented fracking in Maryland and put regulations in the way to prevent next GOP Gov Hogan fom easily allowing fracking.
3. Provided health insurance for 380,000
4. Reduced infant mortality to an all time low.
5. Provided meals to thousands of hungry children and moved toward a goal for eradicating childhood hunger.
6. Enacted a $10.10 living wage and a $11. minimum wage for State workers.
7. Supporter the Dream Act
8. Cut income taxes for 86% of Marylanders (raised taxes on the rich).
9. Reformed Maryland’s tax code to make it more progressive.
10. Enacted some of the nation’s most comprehensive reforms to protect homeowners from foreclosure.

Mother Jones magazine called him the best candidate on environmental issues.
Article here:
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/12/martin-omalley-longshot-presidential-candidate-and-real-climate-hawk

Here are his PLANS: http://www.democraticunderground.com/12813600

[askew]

6. I'm a middle-aged woman from Minnesota who likes politicans who gets things done,

stands up for everyone and leads by princple. I consider Obama to be the best president of my lifetime because he has gotten more done than any president since LBJ, doesn't waste time with useless partisian fights and ignores what the beltway says.

Why I started supporting O'Malley was simple. In the summer of 2015, in one of my biggest disappointments with Obama, Obama started sending the child refugees who fled across our border from Central America back without due process. They were denied attorneys for immigration hearings and kept in warehouses. One Democrat stood up and said what the Obama administration is doing was wrong. That was Martin O'Malley. He said it was against everything Democrats and Americans stand for to send these children back to a certain death. And he did more. He convened a huge group of social services, attorneys and religious groups together and figured out how to help those kids. Maryland took in more of these children per capita than any other state. He put them in humane foster homes and rejected the abandoned warehouse in Maryland the Obama administration wanted to stick them in. In that moment, O'Malley stood up for those kids while no one else was and he changed those kids' lives forever. After Maryland stepped up, other states quickly followed - Minnesota, Massachusetts and California started taking in more kids in foster care.

And where was Hillary during that moment? Doing press for her book tour and coldly saying we should send those kids back without a second thought.

Where was Sanders during that moment? Nowhere to be found.

I started researching O'Malley's record and was impressed on how many issues he led on. Not the most popular or easy issues, but issues that matter to progressives.

He passed the toughest gun-control measures after Sandy Hook
He repealed the death penalty and commuted the sentences of remaining death row prisoners to life in prison
He raised taxes to pay for Chesapeake Bay clean up
He pushed through the largest wind farm on the eastern shore
He passed DREAM Act and same-sex marriage and then went all over the state championing these bills so they would survive ballot initiatives
He stood up to ICE and told Baltimore Jail to stop holding undocumented Americans without criminal charges until ICE could show up and deport them
He closed the violent and corrupt prison in Maryland
He restored voting rights for ex-felons and made voting easier for all Marylanders
He raised minimum wage
He made Maryland schools the best in the country for 5 years
He froze tuition at Maryland public colleges/universities for 4 years
He put in fracking regulations so tough that no company will do business in Maryland
He passed progressive climate change policies

And that is just some of what he did. Hillary for all her years in Washington DC has led successfully on very few issues and has been wrong on too many to count.

Bernie has been in DC a long time as well and hasn't gotten enough done for me to back. Though he is by far my second choice, his views on immigration and gun control worry me.

And O'Malley has continued to lead on issues that matter to me in this election - immigration, environment, criminal justice, education and foreign policy

O'Malley was the first one to call for taking in 65,000 Syrian refugees and continued to back that in wake of Paris. Both Sanders and Hillary were wishy-washy on this issue last night.

O'Malley stood up first for Puerto Rico's need for bankruptcy relief and fixing their health care crisis

O'Malley is the only candidate who has called out the forced deportation of Dominican Republic citizens of Haitian descent from DR.

On issue after issue, O'Malley gets there first and tells us specifically what he'll do to resolve the problem. Hillary is still ducking specifics and I don't see the passion from Sanders on anything besides economic issues.

[MH1]

12. ^^^ Excellent answer !!

I bookmarked this thread because of your answer.

I'm not as comfortable spouting off the details, but I've been generally aware of O'Malley's record as a progressive do-er. I like him a lot as a strong alternative to either of the front-runners.

I haven't made a final decision but am leaning strongly toward O'Malley due to the reasons you cite.

[askew]

13. Thanks. I think there is a lot to like in O'Malley's record.

[nxylas]

8. Thanks, folks

Given the powder keg atmosphere of DU at the moment, I was worried that asking the even a fairly innocuous question of this nature would provoke a flame war. But you've given me some substantive and thoughtful answers.

For the record, my support for a candidate doesn't mean very much, as I'm not American, but Sanders would be my first choice if I had a vote, as I regard him as the progressive candidate most likely to defeat Hillary in the primaries. But I certainly wouldn't be upset if O'Malley was the nominee.

[Recursion]

14. Nearly-40 expat stationed in India (but moving back in time for the election)

In terms of my positions on the issues, I'm pretty much on the left end of the party (which is different from the left end of DU) other than being skeptical about many gun control measures (but not "against" them in any principled sense).

I like him because he's thoughtful and doesn't give in to the temptation to offer simplistic meme-style answers to complex problems. So even on issues where I do disagree with him, like the assault weapons ban, I can see that he has actually looked at the objections and alternatives and still considers it the best idea; I really respect that. Not to dig on Sanders, but as somebody pointed out recently Sanders's entire statement on Veterans' Affairs is shorter than O'Malley's position paper simply on veterans' and servicemembers' families.

What I keep coming back to is that whenever I see him talk or read something he writes, I always find myself thinking "this guy gets it: the world is complicated". That's the draw for me.

[bigtree]

15. I've lived in Md. over 40 years

...I know, firsthand, the breadth and depth of Martin O'Malley's progressive fights and accomplishments in my state. He's done most of the things others are still just talking about.

[PragmaticLiberal]

17. You mean he's not a closet DLC member faking his liberal credentials?

[NuclearDem]

16. He's done his homework.

Most detailed policy proposals out of all the candidates, and plenty of experience implementing quite a few of them in Maryland.

[Peacetrain]

18. Because he has the experience to actually get done

what everyone is talking about.. he has actually done it.. soooo.. only makes sense to me.. not disparaging Clinton or Sanders, they have awesome ideas.. But O'Malley has actually driven the truck with manual vs automatic shifting so to speak .. put the ideas into action

[FSogol]

19. There should only be 2 flavors of ice cream, right?

You create an over simplification:

Hillary appeals to more establishment Dems and Bernie to those on the left of the party

which is not backed up by any facts and then passively suggest that O'Malley has no place in the process.

To me, O'Malley is the better choice for the Democrats over Sanders because he is the candidate that has accomplished the most. His accomplishments are listed elsewhere in this thread, but for me, ending the death penalty, adding some restrictions on firearms, preventing fracking, investing in education at a time when everyone was cutting funds, rasing taxes on the rich, and raising the minimum wage exceed the output of all other candidates.

Sanders is on the correct side of most issues and usually says the correct thing, but his time in Washington shows that he doesn't get his way and is unable to pass what he wants. He reminds me of Dennis Kucinich and enjoys the same bubble of popularity on DU that Sanders is currently enjoying.

O'Malley has the most workable comprehensive plans of any of candidate. His plans are all posted in thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/12813600

O'Malley is also unique in the way he approaches problems. He doesn't approach them like a politician, he approaches them like an engineer, looking for solutions. The only comparisons I can think of for this area the late Paul Tsongas (only on a narrower range of issues) and Harry Hopkins (FDR's architect of the New Deal).

Most importantly, O'Malley is forward thinking. His immigration plans, plans to expand Social Security, plans to reform criminal justice, and especially his plan to get America to be energy independent in 30 years make him the candidate that our country needs at the time we need him most.

[deutsey]

20. I support Bernie but I would have no problem with voting for O'Malley

I voted for him to be governor and would do it again for him to be president.

Bernie is just much closer to my political philosophy. Had he not run, I probably would be 100% behind O'Malley now (or 98%...I don't know that it's possible for me to be 100% behind a candidate, even Bernie). But even so, I like him and would prefer him as the nominee over Hillary.

[snooper2]

21. No Clinton, No Bush, and Bernie is 74 years old- New Era need new Blood

One reason President Obama is so awesome is he can relate to the younger generation-