O’Malley Appears Ready to Challenge Clinton

For well over a year, Steve Kornacki notes former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) “has been quietly making the rounds to lay the groundwork for a ’16 campaign. But he’s been haunted by the imposing and unprecedented shadow cast by Clinton, whose poll numbers are stronger than any non-incumbent candidate for either party’s nomination has posted in the modern era. With the political world already treating Clinton as the presumed nominee, O’Malley has faced skepticism about his intentions. Won’t he ultimately stand down rather than wage a hopeless campaign? Or if he does go ahead and run, surely he’ll keep the gloves on, the better to position himself for a more attainable prize like, say, the vice presidency. Right?”

“But it’s now safe to say that’s not what’s going on here. O’Malley is, for all intents and purposes, already running, with a formal announcement probably a few months away. And he’s already made peace with the hard feelings this will engender in Clinton World and is under no illusions that running for the top job will in any way make him more attractive to Clinton as a No. 2.”

First Read: “Well, we found out two things about Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley during his interview on ABC yesterday. One, he looks like he’s running (and could very well be the only Democratic challenger against Hillary Clinton). And two, he now knows how he gets attention and name ID – by attacking Clinton, either explicitly or implicitly.”