It’s a long way to the Super Bowl, and anything can happen.

In my opinion, it’s WAY too early for Democrats to RISK narrowing the field to only two of our venerable best. Both of them are vulnerable to all of the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.” So I hope lots of Iowa Democrats will follow the common sense advice of Robin Heinemann, who runs Des Moines’s Shakespeare festival:

“I will be arguing that if Hillary has more supporters than she needs…or if Bernie has more supporters than he needs, then come over and join O’Malley so we can all keep talking,” ~ Robin Heinemann

Here’s the thing, Democrats. There are months to go before our convention. Anything can happen during those months. One, or possibly even both, of our front-runners could suffer political or personal problems that might effectively eliminate them from the race (e.g. accidents, family tragedies, financial misconduct, scandal, severe illness, indictment). Of course the odds of any such thing happening to both is small, but can you imagine how dismayed you would be if it was your favorite who suffered some sort of bad turn?

Increasing numbers of us say we would be supporting Martin O’Malley if Bernie or Hillary weren’t in the race. Some are even saying we are switching to Martin O’Malley. Others haven’t quite gone that far, but some say things, like Pat Rynard of Iowa Starting Line - namely “I really like what I’ve seen from Martin O’Malley, and do think he would make an excellent president….” Then there’s Kathie Obradovich of the Des Moines Register, who said he is “a shining beacon” of humanity.

Personally, I agree with Grace, Tara and William O’Malley that millennials are going to like their dad once they get to know him.

Impressive interview with the millennials who know Martin O’Malley best.

I also agree with William O’Malley that his dad is our best hope to “hit Donald Trump like a freight train” and win the election next November. But then, at this point, I realize that many Democrats reading this article probably disagree. Maybe you #FeelTheBern, or maybe you say #ImWithHer. Either way, you’re probably more or less confident that your candidate has the best chance of winning next November. I’m ok with that for now, provided your reasoning isn’t heavily influenced by polling.

Call me old-fashioned, but I’m just not that impressed with the collective judgement of any group of 400 randomly selected Democrats, many of whom probably knew next to nothing about Martin O’Malley when they answered the pollster. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying he has an easy path to the nomination. No way, no how. All I’m saying for now is that I think we’ll be better off seeing him at least make the cut in Iowa, and again in New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada. Because, even though you may think he’s just our third string, it’s still a very long way to our Super Bowl next November, and anything can happen to our star players in the hard regular season that’s just about to start.

So, if you’re in Iowa, please get out to caucus for Martin O’Malley. He is “…taking this shot as if the future of the Republic depends on it — and you know what, it just might.”