One voter shows up at O'Malley event in Iowa; remains uncommitted

[The Tradition]

Amid a vicious winter storm on Monday that forced some presidential campaigns to cancel their scheduled stops in Iowa, only Martin O'Malley decided to press on.

And one man at his last event, the only person to show up, in fact, "was glad to see me," the former Maryland governor said. But he still would not commit to caucus for O'Malley.

"The very last event of the night, we actually had a whopping total of one person show up, but by God, he was glad to see me. So we spent the time with him," the Democratic presidential candidate told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Tuesday, speaking from Des Moines.

A tweet shared by an ABC News reporter showed a bearded man, identified only as Kenneth, sitting at a table with O'Malley, who told MSNBC that he was "working on him," but also said people in Iowa "want to see the whole campaign play out" before deciding on a candidate.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/martin-omalley-iowa-event-217193#ixzz3vjQhW7tc

 

[naturalmwa]

Santa is going to find out if he's naughty or nice. He might have a cabinet gift for him in 2016.

 

[cigaretteman]

A handful of Iowans who drove through blowing snow to see Martin O'Malley got an intimate chance to talk over coffee about issues ranging from climate change to ISIS.

The former Maryland governor and Democratic presidential hopeful was the first candidate from either party to return to Iowa following the Christmas holiday, speaking to more than 100 people Sunday at the Des Moines Social Club about immigration and foreign policy. The crowds were smaller at Monday morning stops amid a winter storm that was expected to pile at least 8 inches of snow in swaths of the state.

O'Malley sat in the middle of five potential caucusgoers inside the 2nd Street Emporium in Webster City for what felt more like a dinner table conversation than a campaign event. He explained the management style he embraced as Baltimore's mayor and as a governor, and at one point asked the campaign's state director, Jake Oeth, to get his iPad from their vehicle so he could show a graphic around the table.

"It used to be that the leader was on top of a hierarchy of command and control," he said, arguing that he'd bring a more collaborative leadership style to the White House. "One of the assets I bring to this race … is that of a modern way of leadership. The nature of leadership has changed in just the last 10 or 15 years."

Monday was the second of a four-day trip through Iowa as the former governor works to build on the 5.7 percent support his long-shot campaign has from potential Iowa caucusgoers, according to a Real Clear Politics polling average.

O'Malley worked to draw distinctions between himself and his rivals, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Fighting climate change is one area where the three candidates for the Democratic nomination offer noticeably different solutions, he said.

O'Malley in June released a plan to power the country's electrical grid from renewable sources alone through efforts that include making buildings more energy efficient.

"People always ask you what's the first thing you do when you're elected president," he said. "My answer to that is to sign an executive order that declares this movement to a 100 percent clean electric energy grid by 2050 a national security and a national economic priority."

While talking about partisan gridlock in Congress during the Obama administration, O'Malley suggested that it would only become worse if Sanders — a self-described democratic socialist — became the party's nominee. But Webster City resident Dave Hilton told O'Malley opponents are misusing the word "socialist" to attack Sanders when, in fact, many of his progressive ideals are resonating with voters.

Hilton, 73, said after the event that he still plans to caucus for O'Malley.

"He's done everything he says, while the others, it's more what they would like to do," Hilton said.

http://www.press-citizen.com/story/...acts-intimate-crowds-amid-snowstorm/77981702/

 

[cigaretteman]

Out of all the presidential candidates with scheduled events in Iowa during Monday’s winter storm, Martin O’Malley was the only one who kept all his appointments.

Even though he drove from Iowa Falls to officially open his new downtown Waterloo campaign headquarters, his fifth in Black Hawk County, he figured not many would meet him there because of the weather.

“On the way here I was saying, ‘Nobody’s gonna be there on a snowy night,’” the former Maryland governor told the crowd of about a dozen, packed into the corner office on East Fourth Street.

O’Malley leads his Democratic rivals — and many of the Republican candidates, too — in the number of events held in Iowa, according to the Des Moines Register’s Candidate Tracker.

But quantity of events doesn’t necessarily lead to an increase in poll numbers. Rick Santorum, despite holding 209 events in Iowa, is polling at 1 percent. Another candidate tied with O’Malley at 136 events, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, has already dropped out of the GOP race.

But O’Malley remains convinced that opening offices and meeting with Iowans is the way to voters’ hearts.

“A tremendous former state chair once said to me, ‘Martin, the secret to success in Iowa is organize, organize and catch fire late,’” he said. “So, by golly, we are on track on all three of those counts.”

O’Malley pointed to his rising poll numbers, helped along since this fall after two candidates dropped out and Vice President Joe Biden announced he would not run.

Still, despite quoting a Gravis Marketing poll showing him at 10 percent, six other December polls put him at 9 percent or less, with an average of 5.7 percent, according to Real Clear Politics.

O’Malley said, with 40 organizers in the state, he’s ready to “turn on the afterburners” until February.

“Look, we have 35 days to go until the Iowa caucuses,” he said. “Quite frankly, at a time when a lot of us feel like the outcome’s determined before anybody casts a vote, what you do for our country is critically important.”

Roger White of Cedar Falls came with his wife to listen to O’Malley speak.

He said he’s heard all the candidates, and he’s still not sure about his vote. White said he is looking for, first and foremost, “a winner” who has the momentum to bring enough congressional candidates along with them to end Washington gridlock. He also was hoping for credibility, integrity and a candidate who was “personable and likable.”

“I think he represents some of the attributes I’m looking for,” White said. “I don’t think any of (the candidates) fit exactly.”

O’Malley hopes to change those minds. He noted the final Democratic debate, as well as word-of-mouth, will be equally important in the coming weeks.

“I know that the people of Iowa always have a penchant for upsetting the apple cart on caucus night,” O’Malley said. “Now, with only three of us in the race, only one of us can still upset the apple cart.”

http://www.thegazette.com/subject/n...pens-campaign-office-on-snowy-monday-20151229

 

[Pepperman]

obviously the weather impacted this specific event, but honestly when do you just throw in the towel?

who is bankrolling this guy? if he's going for a cabinet spot, wouldn't it be smarter to say he endorses Hillary and get it over with?

 

[lucas80]

After South Carolina, maybe. I will caucus for him.