But I also have a lot of respect for the last two term governor of Maryland where I’ve lived for 15 years, Martin O’Malley.
He governed as a progressive, worked to protect the Chesapeake Bay, worked with the unions. He was responsive to the people.
When he was mayor of Baltimore, he still was front man for an Irish rock’roll band. This is a man who knows who he is and likes who he is. He is comfortable in his own skin, as are both Bernie and Warren.
And like my friend Bernie, it looks like O’Malley is trying to put together a presidential run.
The Wall Street Journal recently ran a full half-page puff piece on O’Malley. He and his staff couldn’t have asked for a better article from the campaign trail in Iowa. They played up his progressive credentials, which are so important.
And the progressive issues the Journal highlighted were not the soft, easy, non-offensive-to-the-rich issues.
The issues they highlighted are what we’ve talked about in this space for years now–getting tough and cracking down on Wall Street, raising taxes on the rich to meet the needs of our people, raising wages, and more.
The WSJ said about O’Malley:
“Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s biggest applause line during a speech here this week came as he listed ways the US could pay for a higher minimum wage, an EXPANSION of Social Security and more spending on infrastructure and education. ‘We do it by asking the wealthiest among us to believe enough in their country to actually make the sort of investments we made in other generations instead of off shoring their profits and off shoring their wealth.’ Another crowd-pleasing idea from the 52 year old Democrat: insisting that the federal government actually REGULATE risky financial behavior on Wall Street that threatens to run over our economy.’”
We must elect a president committed to raising wages, taxing the rich, expanding Social Security, reducing inequality, investing in infrastructure and sustainable energy. These are fundamental issues that will chart the course of America.
Image source: arts.gov