If you have ever ignored, scoffed at, dismissed, or just plain razzed 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Martin O'Malley (below), and if you still do so, here's what I know about you.
You will never get it. You will always let the perfect be the enemy of the good. You care more about personality than policy. You don't listen. And unless you supported Bernie Sanders, you have something against white guys. You may even use the term "white guy" as an insult.
You will never get it. As the two leading contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were fundamentally flawed. Hillary had too much baggage from her political career and carried a sense of entitlement to the Presidency because she is the wife of a former President. Bernie was hobbled less by his politics than by his isolation from the Senate Democratic caucus and his status as an independent; there was no way a U.S. Senator who does not belong to the Democratic Party would ever get said party's nomination. Of the three top Democratic presidential candidates, Martin O'Malley was the only one with a realistic chance of winning. But you wanted to have nothing to do with him.
You will always let the perfect be the enemy of the good. As governor of Maryland, Martin O'Malley raised taxes on the rich, expanded mass transit, curtailed gun rights, supported same-sex marriage rights, established an all-payer rate system to control health care costs, and pushed through groundbreaking environmental regulations. If you haven't read Matthew Yglesias' excellent column making the case for O'Malley's presidential candidacy, here is the link - again. And yet you tell me that his record is not good enough? What the hell do you want, anyway? You're put off by him because he doesn't fill all of your checkboxes of what a good progressive should be? Because he didn't achieve free college tuition or a living wage?
You care more about personality than policy. Hillary is a star politician, the first woman who had a realistic chance to win the Presidency, and her every move was and is news. She's a celebrity. Bernie has electricity and charisma with his revolutionary rhetoric. And you think O'Malley is a joke because he's not a star? You laughed at him because he has no pizazz and no sparkle? Ever see O'Malley get his Irish up? Ever notice how charismatic he is when he goes after Donald Trump? Ahh, you don't care, he's just another boring ol' former governor - "Martin who??" - and he's not a big star. Like Donald Trump. Why didn't you look at what O'Malley has done and not what he is? Because he's not a star? This is the Presidency, not a Hollywood movie!
You don't listen. Everything Martin O'Malley warned would happen if the Democrats blindly supported Hillary turned out to be true. He said that it was counterproductive for the party to circle the wagons around Hillary, he said it was necessary for the Democratic presidential candidates to debate more often and let the voters know what they and the party stood for, because all the voters were getting was the sound of crickets. He warned us all that if the Democrats didn't allow an honest contest for the party's presidential nomination, the Republicans would get the advantage in the general election. But you didn't listen! And you kept ridiculing him? You have no business ridiculing Martin O'Malley. Rather, you should be dropping to his feet and apologizing profusely to him for not heeding his warnings! But you won't, because if you laughed at him when he said that the party was protecting Hillary and was squelching debate to protect Hillary, you were obviously for Hillary from the start.
Which brings me to my final point: If you were a Hillary supporter, you use the term "white guy" as an insult. You're not interested in giving the Democratic presidential nomination to a male Caucasian. You'd rather play identity politics by nominating another woman or another person of color, or someone who's both, but without regard to whether such a candidate would be the best candidate. You don't want to contemplate the idea that the best candidate to go against Trump in 2020 may very well be a white male like O'Malley, because you're too busy wanting to make history by nominating someone who checks all the boxes on your political-correctness list.
Here's something you ought to know about me: I am going to continue to support Martin O'Malley for President in 2020, and there ain't thing one you can do to change my mind. So you'd better not try.
No comments:
Post a Comment