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O'Malley's campaign clearly didn't mind seeing him cast as Wall Street's worst 2016 nightmare.

His team sent out a press release on Monday highlighting the fact Gasparino called him "the last person [Wall Street CEO's] want running." It included a video of Gasparino's comments.

"This weekend, Governor O’Malley kicked off his presidential campaign and leaned heavily both into the need for more robust reform of Wall Street and for Democrats to nominate a candidate who is independent of the big banks," the statement said. "His position has apparently gotten notice." (snip)

In a conversation with Business Insider on Monday, O'Malley campaign spokeswoman Haley Morris described cracking down on Wall Street excesses as a "top priority" in the candidate's economic agenda.

"He made it clear that the number one issue that he has zeroed in on is that rebalancing act of getting our economy working again and reining in reckless behavior on Wall Street," Morris said.

Overall, Morris said O'Malley would confront Wall Street with "a mix of structural and accountability reforms." She pointed to a column O'Malley wrote for the Des Moines Register in March in which he outlined some of the specific policies he would support.

Guns: Increase gun control. Ban dozens of assault weapons. Limit size of gun magazines. Require fingerprints to buy a handgun.

The Democrat is a critic of the National Rifle Association and proponent of gun control measures. As governor of the Old Line State, he pushed for and signed sweeping gun control legislation, banning 45 types of assault weapons, limiting magazine clips to ten bullets and requiring anyone purchasing a handgun to enter a fingerprint database.
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Obamacare and health care: Expand the Affordable Care Act. Move to an “all-payer” system.

An Obamacare advocate, O’Malley supported expanding Maryland’s health insurance options before the Affordable Care Act became law. When implementing the new healthcare law during his tenure, Maryland’s online health exchange saw repeated problems. It was overhauled in 2014. O’Malley supported and approved a unique statewide Medicare waiver, designed to move Maryland hospitals away from a fee-for-service payment method. Considered the nation’s only “all-payer system,” the state sets medical costs, capping what hospitals can charge. O’Malley has said he wants to the system to be a model for the nation.

Trade: Block the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

O’Malley recently criticized the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), an international trade deal backed by the Obama administration and Congressional Republicans, arguing that it would hurt the middle class. He has since expanded on the point, telling NPR he wants increased labor regulations.

Because the enduring symbol of our nation is not the barbed wire fence, it is the Statue of Liberty.

We are a nation of immigrants. We are a compassionate and generous people. And if we act according to our principles — and the better angels of our nature — if we return to our true selves, the dream will live again.

Make no mistake about it — our ability to lead the world and be safe in this world depends on the strength of the American Dream here at home. The challenges we face in the world today are different from the challenges we faced in the 1990s.

But there is an alternative. Rather than rallying around someone who can't seem to elude perpetual media scrutiny, the person all Democrats should pay close attention to is former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley who is poised to officially join the race Saturday. The former Baltimore mayor and two-term governor offers a genuine alternative to the status quo within Washington and a real threat to any GOP challenger — especially Jeb Bush.

Mr. O'Malley, unlike Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush, isn't linked to perpetual scandal and criticism, nor is he beholden to foreign donors, investment banks or a family surname. He rightfully stated that the presidency isn't "some crown to be passed between two families" and compared to Ms. Clinton, Mr. O'Malley offers a genuinely progressive outlook on American politics. When both candidates are analyzed, it's apparent that one caters to poll-driven centrism while the other is far more confident in a progressive vision for America.

While Ms. Clinton voted for the invasion of Iraq, Mr. O'Malley has been a longtime critic of the Iraq War. As governor, Mr. O'Malley sponsored and signed a same-sex marriage bill when Hillary Clinton was overtly against gay marriage. He also signed a marijuana decriminalization bill, while Ms. Clinton has said she was against the decriminalization of marijuana. Martin O'Malley wants to bring back Glass-Steagall, called the Trans-Pacific Partnership a "bad trade deal," and urged the Senate in 2014 to reject the Keystone XL pipeline. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, once referred to TPP as "the gold standard in trade agreements," and she still hasn't taken a stance on the Keystone XL pipeline.

Providing a Living Wage
During the 2014 Legislative Session, Governor O'Malley and Lt. Governor Brown led the successful campaign to raise Maryland's minimum wage to $10.10. Hundreds of thousands of Maryland workers will receive a raise, injecting money into the economy and creating good-paying, family-supporting jobs.

According to the nonpartisan Pew Center on the States, Maryland is one of the Top Three states for upward economic mobility based on a worker’s ability to move up the corporate ladder.

Access to Higher Education
Since 2007-08, Maryland has done more than any other state in the nation to hold down the cost of college. This year, the University System of Maryland’s tuition increase is capped at 3%, including a freeze at Morgan State University and St. Mary’s College.

Strengthening Neighborhoods, Towns, & Local Economies
Maryland invests in smart growth by strengthening neighborhoods, towns, and local economies. Traditional programs like Main Street Maryland, Community Legacy, and Neighborhood BusinessWorks strive to strengthen the economic potential of our traditional main streets and neighborhoods.

Assistance to Needy Families
In order to support people and families confronting economic challenges, Maryland has committed resources to help those who were particularly affected by the foreclosure crisis. Maryland has reformed state laws, provided counseling and financial assistance, and has become a national leader in foreclosure prevention. Maryland continues to provide leadership and creative responses to the foreclosure crisis with expanded counseling services and outreach efforts.

In an interview with The Irish Times, the Irish-American former Baltimore mayor and former Maryland governor, who is due to announce his candidacy on Saturday, said he had a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for the frontrunner.

“But an election, especially an election as important as the election of the next president of the United States, is not about what’s good for the Clintons or for that matter what’s good for the O’Malleys. It’s about what’s good for our country,” he said.

Mr O’Malley (52) is regarded as having positioned himself to the left of Ms Clinton (67) in order to appeal to the Democrats’ progressive base. “I don’t see myself as to the left or right of the other candidates in the party. I see myself as forward of them. I’m younger than they are. I therefore arrive at some conclusions on important issues in advance of the other candidates.”

Asked about the widely held belief, backed up by polling, that Ms Clinton’s candidacy is unstoppable within the Democratic Party, he said: “Every year there’s an unstoppable candidacy. Inevitable frontrunners are inevitable right up until they’re no longer inevitable.”

He said the Republican Party tended to “retread old names” while the Democrats tended to look to the future more. “In our party, there usually emerges a choice between the candidate that everybody knows and the new candidate of a new generation that none of us has ever really heard of much,” he said.