Taking It To the Next Level

Martin O'Malley is still doing poorly in the polls. Even as people begin to pay closer attention to the 2016 presidential campaign, the Democratic presidential candidate and former governor of Maryland is still in the low single digits in various preference polls in Iowa and New Hampshire.  In the  Granite State, he's even polling behind . . . Jim Webb? Jim Webb?  The former senator from Virginia that people confuse with the guy who wrote "MacArthur Park?"

It looks as though Marty may be gaining some traction, however.  This past Saturday, he spoke at the New Hampshire Democratic convention, and he got a round of applause.  In the speech, the 52-year-old O'Malley laid out a clear agenda for what he would do as President, and while he alluded to the controversy over the Democratic presidential debate schedule by saying that the party has Republican presidential debate statements go answered (George W. Bush kept us safe?  Even on 9/11??), he did not renew his call for more debates.  Lots of people are doing that now - some of them even drowned out Debbie Wasserman Schultz's speech at the same convention. He clearly won that argument, whether there are more debates or not.

Instead, he moved on, pressing his case for his candidacy and making more of a push to get his poll numbers into double digits.  "The theme of my campaign is not about process," he told a reporter afterwards.  "It’s about the actions that we need to take to help rebuild the American dream."

Maybe this is where he starts moving forward and upward.