Martin O'Malley has Senate opportunity to avoid face-off with Hillary Clinton
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Version 0 of 1. Hillary Clinton may have one fewer bump on her road to the Democratic nomination. The announcement that the five-term Maryland senator Barbara Mikulski will not seek re-election in 2016 opens up an avenue for another Democratic presidential hopeful to avoid a confrontation with the political juggernaut that is Clinton. The former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley has long been considered among the most credible alternatives to Clinton in the 2016 Democratic nomination process. The governor of Maryland from 2007 to this year, he pushed a number of pet progressive causes in his state, such as gay marriage and the environment, and would probably run somewhere just to Clinton’s left. In fact, he delivered a veiled criticism of her perceived centrism in South Carolina on Saturday when he told a Democratic gathering: “Triangulation is not a strategy that will move America forward.” O’Malley has spent considerable time and resources building up a presence in early states such as Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. However, despite this, he has been polling at roughly the margin of error in Iowa and faces tough odds moving forward. Mikulski’s unexpected retirement from the Senate after nearly 30 years gives O’Malley an alternative to facing off against Clinton. If O’Malley decides to run for Mikulski’s seat, the former Maryland governor gets an opportunity to maintain his national relevance now that he is out of office at state level and keep himself in a position for a potential presidential bid in 2020 if Clinton loses in 2016. Although Mikulski had indicated her support for Clinton’s presidential candidacy, O’Malley has long been close to the outgoing senator. His mother is a longtime receptionist for Mikulski and the former Maryland governor worked on Mikulski’s first Senate campaign in 1986. Yet, the question is whether O’Malley will take this exit. He has long told advisers that he has “more of an executive than a legislative personality” and found his experience on the Baltimore city council in 1990s to be deeply frustrating. The 78-year-old Mikulski’s retirement came as a shock to political observers. She had been making preparations to run for re-election and had not previously indicated in public that she was even considering retirement. However, Mikulski’s decision may have been swayed by the Republican takeover of the Senate in 2014 which meant she lost her powerful perch as chair of the Senate appropriations committee. In her statement today, the outgoing senator cited the burdens of campaigning in making her decision and said she would rather spend her time over the next two years “raising hell” instead of “raising money”. Regardless of whether O’Malley throws his hat into the ring, the scramble for what is only the second open Senate seat in Maryland in the past 40 years is likely to entice a number of other prominent Democrats into the race. Congressman Chris Van Hollen, a member of the House Democratic leadership from suburban Washington DC, has long been thought to be pondering a bid for the Senate if a seat opened up. However, Van Hollen is a loyal protege of both the minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, and minority whip, Steny Hoyer, and is considered one of the favorites to eventually succeed them in the House leadership. Other House Democrats from the Old Line State could jump into the race as well, including liberal firebrand Donna Edwards and John Sarbanes, whose father spent 30 years representing Maryland in the Senate. Related: Vermont's socialist senator ponders a 2016 presidential run But Mikulski’s announcement does increase the probability that Clinton will face an easy path to getting the Democratic nomination. If O’Malley pursues the Senate race, the only other likely Democratic contenders – Bernie Sanders, a two-term socialist senator from Vermont, and Jim Webb, a former one-term senator from Virginia – are considered gadflies who haven’t built up any serious political operations at all in early states. Further, while many liberals have long been pushing for the Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren to mount a campaign, Warren has shown absolutely no interest in doing so. If neither O’Malley nor Warren run, the only scrutiny that Clinton would face from her left would be from Sanders. This would further reduce the incentives for Clinton, who has reportedly been telling donors that she will declare her candidacy in April, to jump in the race right away and makes her nomination look increasingly like a coronation. In a statement, O’Malley described Mikulski as a “friend and inspiration” and said he was “personally thankful for the Senator’s support, trust, and friendship over the years”. When asked for comment, Lis Smith, a spokeswoman for O’Malley, said: “Today is a day to reflect on Senator Mikulski’s service to the people of Maryland, not engage in political speculation.” |