What are Martin O'Malley's chances of being Mr. Liberal 2016?
Elizabeth Warren isn鈥檛 running. The left has tried and tried, but the anti-Wall Street firebrand senator from Massachusetts just isn鈥檛 going to challenge Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party presidential nomination. Progressives have moved on, for the most part. They鈥檙e looking for another standard-bearer. So who鈥檚 going to end up as Mr. (or Ms.) Liberal 2016?
Bill de Blasio seems to be auditioning for the role. The New York City mayor has lately had an active national travel schedule. But his quest seems quixotic 鈥� he鈥檚 only been in office 16 months. Plus, he鈥檚 got troubles back home.
Martin O鈥橫alley might be more likely. He announced his run Saturday, and he鈥檚 going to try and position himself to Mrs. Clinton鈥檚 left. The former Maryland governor had a quiet meeting with a group of key progressives in New York City in May and promoted himself as Warren-like, but actually in the race. He said he opposes President Obama鈥檚 Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. That鈥檚 a litmus test for liberals.
But as far as the left is concerned Mr. O鈥橫alley might be a Martin-come-lately. His ideology seemed more moderate when he served as governor, which is unsurprising since state chief executives have to be pragmatic, even in a blue state. Then there鈥檚 O鈥橫alley鈥檚 charisma gap. When you hear him speak, 鈥渇irebrand鈥� isn鈥檛 a word that comes to mind, as it does with Ms. Warren.
So we鈥檒l go with the safe choice here: Bernie Sanders. The white-haired, articulate Vermont senator seems the favorite to win liberals鈥� hearts. He鈥檚 already declared his presidential intentions, and he鈥檚 long resided at the left edge of the Democratic Party 鈥� or just beyond it. He鈥檚 the only sitting US lawmaker who uses the word 鈥渟ocialist鈥� to describe himself.
Mr. Sanders鈥檚 liberal bent was on full display in a recent Reddit Q-and-A. He wants public college education to be tuition-free. He said National Security Agency surveillance was 鈥淥rwellian鈥� and that the country needs a constitutional amendment to limit political campaign contributions. He advocated a guaranteed basic income and said climate change 鈥渋s the most significant planetary crisis we face.鈥�
Sanders is running at nearly 9 percent in HuffPost Pollster鈥檚 rolling average of Democratic nomination surveys. O鈥橫alley gets about 2 percent. It鈥檚 early, but we鈥檇 say that鈥檚 indicative.
