A Tough Fight

Martin O'Malley is going into the new year with a lot of work cut out for himself.

The Democratic long-shot presidential candidate is still polling low in Iowa and New Hampshire, with less than a month to go before the former state's caucuses, but he remains a happy warrior who soldiers on.  Recently O'Malley was campaigning in Iowa with his son, door-to-door, and he waited at one of his events through a snowstorm to talk to the only person that was able to make it there.  (He couldn't get the guy to pledge his support.)  O'Malley also held an event at the public library in West Des Moines and convinced at least one woman who spoke with WHO-TV afterwards to vote for him.  If he's going to win or place a strong second, it's going to come down to this ideal of retail politics.

But he likely may not win in Ohio.  Despite having more than enough signatures to get on the ballot in that state's primary, enough of those signatures were invalidated to keep him off it.  He plans to run as a write-in candidate there, and if he pulls an upset in Iowa and/or New Hampshire, he could make history in the Buckeye State as well.  And why not?  As the father of four who has a huge amount of college debts to pay on behalf of his children, Marty knows what it's like for the middle class to survive and succeed. 

Meanwhile, it looks like I might not be able to call voters in Iowa for O'Malley as I had hoped, and for the reasons I explained back on New Year's Eve - too much stuff going on at home to worry about.  But I am still encouraged by some of the reports I've heard out of Iowa in recent days to think that maybe, just maybe, this long shot might very well be a favorite. :-)