Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s (D) “biggest applause line during a speech here this week came as he listed ways the U.S. could pay for a higher minimum wage, an expansion of Social Security and more spending on infrastructure and education,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Said O’Malley: “We do it by asking the wealthiest among us to believe enough in their country to actually make the sort of investments we made in other generations instead of offshoring their profits and offshoring their wealth.”

Politico: “Clinton aides point to O’Malley as the most viable alternative candidate, believing he will eventually pick up support from many of the liberal activists currently urging Warren to run. The silver lining in his low name recognition is that he has an opportunity to introduce himself to the American people on his own terms.”

Former Gov. Martin O’Malley (D-MD) attacked both Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush, CBS News reports.

Said O’Malley: “I think that our country always benefits from new leadership and new perspectives. Let’s be honest here, the presidency of the United States is not some crown to be passed between two families. It is an awesome and sacred trust that to be earned and exercised on behalf of the American people.”

Former Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) is in Iowa again but “almost everyone… said they knew very little, if anything, about O’Malley,” CNN reports.

“That confusion crystallizes the central challenge O’Malley faces if he decides to pursue a long-shot run for the Democratic presidential nomination. He must find a way to dent the Clinton political machine and prove that he’s a competitive candidate — not just a backup for progressives who would rather see Elizabeth Warren in the White House.”

“And it’s in Iowa where O’Malley must stake his ground. Failure here would almost certainly doom his campaign. But if he manages to do better than expected — or even stage an upset — O’Malley could emerge as a real challenger for Clinton.”

“Over the past two years, as Martin O’Malley has mulled a run for president, he has poured hefty resources into Iowa, appearing at 24 campaign events and fundraisers, lending 14 staffers to Democratic candidates and the state party, and donating more than $40,000,” the Washington Post reports.

“Remarkably, as the 2016 presidential race launches in earnest, very few of the candidates and party leaders O’Malley helped in Iowa have committed — to him, to presumed front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton or to anyone else. Many of these Democrats say it is too early to decide whom they will support, creating hope for the long shot from Maryland but also leaving it unclear whether his considerable efforts will generate anything more than goodwill.”

Martin O’Malley (D) “took a veiled shot” Hillary Clinton in a speech in South Carolina, “criticizing the politics of triangulation that have historically been associated with the Clintons,” the New York Times reports.

Said O’Malley: “The most fundamental power of our party and our country is the power of our moral principles. Triangulation is not a strategy that will move America forward. History celebrates profiles in courage, not profiles in convenience.”

“The remarks from Mr. O’Malley, who is viewed as facing an uphill battle, signaled a new phase both of his own efforts, after a year of saying he was not in ‘compare-contrast’ mode with Mrs. Clinton, and of the early 2016 campaign.”

“As some Iowa Democratic activists voice frustration with the ‘arrogance’ of Hillary Clinton, liberal rival Martin O’Malley intends to seize on her absence from Iowa and the presidential race,” the Des Moines Register reports.

“There’s just a tiny seed of support here for O’Malley right now… But O’Malley, who has pitched himself as a results-driven progressive, wants to see if he can build on support for a White House bid during two upcoming trips here – one in March and one in April.”

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) “has hired Bill Hyers, who managed New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s campaign last year, as a senior adviser to the governor’s political action committee,” the Washington Post reports.

“The move comes as O’Malley continues to weigh a 2016 White House bid, which would likely pit him against Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination.”

Molly Ball: “Martin O’Malley ought to be a Democrat’s dream candidate… But while Maryland’s governor looks perfectly presidential on paper, Democratic voters outside the state have proved staunchly resistant to forming an impression of him.”

“This is not for lack of media attention. A political press corps preemptively bored by the prospect of another airless Hillary Clinton campaign has dutifully floated O’Malley as an alternative, noting his hypothetical ability to run to Clinton’s left and his appeal as a practical progressive—he’s more liberal than Clinton or New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, but less of a firebrand than Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. And yet he has fluctuated between 1 and 2 percent in recent polls of prospective primary voters, languishing behind not only Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden but also Warren and Cuomo. He’s even polling behind Bernie Sanders, the socialist senator from Vermont.”

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) believes he has discovered a “new way of governing” that could revolutionize Washington, Business Insider reports.

“Throughout his political career, O’Malley has been obsessed with data. Now, he appears to be mulling whether to mount a potential primary challenger to 2016 front-runner Hillary Clinton. If he does run, it seems his devotion to performance metrics could become a major part of his platform.”

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s (D) political action committee “dispatched and paid for a total of 32 staffers to aid candidates and state parties in Iowa, New Hampshire and other battleground states during the mid-term elections,” the Washington Post reports.

“O’Malley, who is weighing a 2016 White House bid, gathered with many of the campaign workers at a lunch in Baltimore on Friday, but it is unclear how many will remain employed by his political operation.”