Grant Rodgers

grodgers@dmreg.com

BURLINGTON, Ia. — Don't count on Democratic presidential hopeful Martin O'Malley taking a cabinet position if his current top rival for the nomination, Hillary Clinton, wins the White House.

The Des Moines Register's editorial board wrote in its endorsement of Clinton on Saturday that the former Maryland governor would be "better suited" to a cabinet job than being president. The former secretary of state and first lady leads the Democratic field in national polling, currently sitting at 51 percent support, according to a Real Clear Politics polling average.

O'Malley — who's campaigned on fighting climate change, reshaping U.S. foreign policy and getting a legal status for millions of undocumented immigrants — endorsed Clinton during her 2008 run against Barack Obama. But O'Malley responded Sunday that he has "zero interest" in a cabinet job from her when asked by a Los Angeles Times journalist about the editorial board's suggestion.

"No interest in being a cabinet member," he said after a campaign stop in Burlington at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 13. "There's a much easier path to that than the path I've chosen ... I intend to win."

O'Malley widely trails both Clinton and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders in Iowa and national polling, garnering support from just four percent of likely caucusgoers, according to The Des Moines Register/Bloomberg News Iowa Poll released Jan. 14. But O'Malley said voters will gravitate to him because he's not a longtime Washington insider and can unite both Democrats and Republicans.

​"My family and I put everything on the line here in order to give you a choice, because I refused to believe that this process was ordained from the outset," O'Malley told an evening crowd in Ottumwa as he neared the end of the stop. "If you lift up a new leader on caucus night, if you help me beat expectations, if you help me reach threshold or beyond, we can change our nation's politics."

At a stop in Fairfield, Jan Carey, 66, said O'Malley's stance on a cabinet position impressed her and moved her closer to supporting him. Carey, a librarian, said the position showed O'Malley has integrity and is serious about selling voters on his platform.

"I want a president I can trust," she said, "who says what he says and means what he says. And that's how Mr. O'Malley comes across."

AT THE EVENTS

SETTING: The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 13 in Burlington and the Fairfield Senior Center in Fairfield.

CROWD: 42 people in Burlington, around 70 people in Fairfield and 45 people in Ottumwa

REACTION: O'Malley received a positive reaction and applause during his stump speech from crowds at both stops. The crowd in Ottumwa applauded as he decried Republican frontrunner Donald Trump's candidacy, saying his rhetoric is dangerous for America.

WHAT'S NEXT: O'Malley will make stops in Pella and Indianola on Monday.