Martin O'Malley intends to win even if the odds are stacked against him Read more

Martin O’Malley’s presidential announcement was as much a civic pride rally as a campaign event.

While the event had all the spectacle of presidential politics – with a booming Bruce Springsteen soundtrack and the former Maryland governor announcing his candidacy on a grassy hill in front of the Baltimore skyline – it also felt like a gathering of friends, celebrating both O’Malley and his home state of Maryland.

O’Malley, who served as Maryland’s governor from 2007 to 2015, anchored his presidential bid in his progressive vision for the country as well as his experience as Baltimore’s mayor. In the long run-up to his announcement on Saturday, he pointedly took stances to the left of Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton on issues like gay marriage, immigration reform and trade, and provided a generational contrast with signs emblazoned with the slogan “New Leadership”.

In his speech, which was introduced by speakers including a gay undocumented immigrant and a blind, African American community activist, O’Malley repeatedly emphasized his progressive credentials, talking about his support for gay marriage and the Dream Act while recognizing “transgender Americans”.

He also went after those he derided as “the bullies of Wall Street” and expressed his horror over the lack of prosecutions after the financial crisis, asking: “Tell me how it is that in this country you can get pulled over if you have a broken tail light, but if you wreck the country you are absolutely untouchable?”



O’Malley took aim at Clinton and presumed Republican candidate Jeb Bush, the son and brother of former presidents where Clinton is the wife of one, saying: “The presidency is not a crown to be passed back and forth by you between two royal families.”

O’Malley has been considered to be the most credible challenger to Clinton for the Democratic nomination. While he lags in the polls, he has put together a well-respected political operation that includes top Iowa operatives and his own Super Pac. He has been laying the groundwork for a potential presidential bid for years, sending nearly a dozen staffers to Iowa alone on his behalf in 2014 and speaking at scores of party fundraisers across the country.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest O’Malley speaks. Photograph: Paul J Richards/AFP/Getty Images

Yet there are good reasons that the former Maryland governor is currently polling within the margin of error nationally.

O’Malley’s record as mayor of Baltimore, which has long been a major talking point, has come under scrutiny in the aftermath of disturbances in his adopted home town after the death of a young African American man, Freddie Gray, in police custody in April. Half a dozen protestors, dissatisfied with the conduct of Baltimore police, showed up on Saturday to try to disrupt O’Malley’s speech. They blew whistles and shouted, to little avail.

O’Malley also was hurt by the 2014 defeat of Anthony Brown, his anointed successor as governor of the Old Line State, which raised questions about O’Malley’s political pull.

On Saturday, though, no one in the crowd seem to mind the tough odds, let alone the summer heat. After all, they were there to support one of their own.

The crowd was filled with attendees wearing clothing emblazoned with the Maryland state flag or local Baltimore sports teams. You could hear people swapping anecdotes about playing gin rummy with O’Malley over a six pack of Guinness, or working on the Gary Hart campaign with him in Iowa in 1984.

Speakers gave shout outs to their high school or college and there was even a contingent in the colors of O’Malley’s alma mater, Gonzaga High School. One among the group, Brian Lee, told the Guardian that while he hadn’t known O’Malley in high school, he now lived in Baltimore and had become a big supporter.

In one shady corner, local politicians who supported O’Malley clustered, trying to catch a breeze on a steamy, humid day.

Maryland’s attorney general, Brian Frosh, a longtime O’Malley ally whom the former governor endorsed in a competitive primary against the nephew of Senator Ben Cardin, kvelled about O’Malley as well. Frosh said the former Maryland governor “would be a great president” and was “everything a public servant should be”.

Parris Glendenning, governor of Maryland from 1995 to 2003, said that while support for his successor was already very strong in his home state, it would only get stronger as people realized what an advantage it would be to have a native son in the White House.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest O’Malley speaks, against a backdrop of the Baltimore skyline. Photograph: Doug Kapustin/Reuters

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Everyone seemed to realize what a historic moment it was for the Old Line State. The opening band repeatedly proclaimed that it was a once in a lifetime moment – and then asked attendees to like them on Facebook.

Maryland has been so bereft of presidential candidates that some attended simply for the spectacle. Alex Levin of Baltimore said that while O’Malley was not exactly his cup of tea politically, he came out because it was “a historic moment”. After all, Maryland has not had a major national political figure since Spiro Agnew.

The question is, will O’Malley manage to stay on the national stage? He is best known in some circles as an inspiration for a character on the The Wire; Maryland pride is not exactly a selling point in Iowa or New Hampshire.

O’Malley was scheduled to fly to Iowa after his announcement speech, making campaign stops in Davenport and Des Moines before visiting New Hampshire, another early voting state, on Sunday.