Martin O'Malley's Not-So-Merry Month of May

I used to joke that Gary Hart, who declared his candidacy for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination in April 1987 and ended it within a month due to a sex scandal, was the "That's Life" candidate - riding high in April, shot down in May.  But, on a much more serious note, Hart's most famous protégé, Martin O'Malley, had a bummer of a May after he seemed to be on top just a month before, when his Win Back Your State PAC's efforts to help Democrats were showing impressive results.

O'Malley suffered a huge setback when Nate Boulton, an Iowa state senator running for governor of  Iowa and a candidate O'Malley had backed, withdrew from the campaign after he was accused of sexual misconduct, throwing the Democratic gubernatorial primary there in turmoil and losing significant face for Win Back Your State.  It may also re-ignite rumors of O'Malley's own sexual indiscretions (which I've talked about here before but refuse to do more than mention); even though these rumors are ridiculous and there is no proof of their veracity, even false scandal can ruin someone. Regardless, O'Malley couldn't have lost a candidate under more humiliating circumstances.

O'Malley has had to sustain two other blows.  Maryland Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, whom O'Malley was close to, died suddenly.  Meanwhile, with Democratic hopes of regaining the U.S. House of Representatives slowly sinking, Washington Democrats are attempting to link a national economic message with stories about corruption in the Trump White House - even as O'Malley is telling Democratic candidates for state and federal office not to talk about Trump.  It's clear that, despite having been proven right about the 2016 election after Democrats ignored his warnings, Martin O'Malley remains a man no one wants to listen to. 

And if that all weren't enough, people talking about the 2020 presidential election cannot and will not stop talking about Bernie Sanders . . . and none of the alternatives being discussed were named Martin by their mothers.

So now you know why I haven't discussed O'Malley much in the past few weeks.

To be fair, Win Back Your State scored a victory in Pennsylvania in May when Helen Tai, a Bucks County Democrat, won a Republican state House seat. And Win Back Your State-backed candidates have won 42 out of 47 special elections so far.  And so I know I'm gonna change my tune should O'Malley be back on top in June.  But the Democratic Party is losing ground when it can't afford to, and there's little time for it to regain momentum.

And if nothing's shakin' come this here July . . . the Democrats should just roll themselves up . . . in a big ball . . . and die! (My, my!)