Is it O'ver for Martin O'Malley?
Martin O鈥橫alley is set to appear Monday night on 鈥淭he Daily Show鈥� with new host Trevor Noah. Perhaps the former Maryland governor will bring his Irish band and perform a tune. Something lively. That may sound non-presidential, but at this point Mr. O鈥橫alley really needs to do something to get some attention. Otherwise, his Oval Office hopes are very close to over.
Why? Because his best chance at starting to rise in the polls may have just passed, that鈥檚 why. The reviews are in on his performance in last week鈥檚 initial Democratic debate, and they鈥檙e not raves. According to a just-released , 1 percent of voters thought O鈥橫alley won the Las Vegas tussle. His actual support is even lower: Asked whom they would back for president, 0 percent of respondents supported O鈥橫alley.
That鈥檚 right. Zero. Given the complications of polling, that might not literally mean nobody mentioned his name. There鈥檚 a margin of error involved, after all. But his total rounded down to zip.
Nor is that survey alone. A has O鈥橫alley at less than 1 percent, if Joe Biden is included in the survey. Exclude Mr. Biden, and O鈥橫alley makes it to the 1 percent threshold.
OK, but national polls can be a bit misleading. Long-shot contenders often devote all their time and money to the early primary states, hoping to slingshot out with a good result and build from there. O鈥橫alley has spent a lot of time in New Hampshire, for instance. How鈥檚 he doing there?
He鈥檚 hovering around 1 percent, according to a new .
He doesn鈥檛 have the money to build name recognition with paid ads, either. He raised $1.2 million in the third quarter, but he spent $1.8 million, meaning it was a red-ink three months. O鈥橫alley isn鈥檛 actually in debt. But he鈥檚 got only about $806,000 cash on hand, according to his .
Nor will he be lending his campaign money out of his own pocket. O鈥橫alley is the poorest of all the presidential contenders, . His net worth is 鈥� surprise! 鈥� zero.
That鈥檚 largely due to educational expenses. O鈥橫alley and his wife, a district court judge, have taken out more than $300,000 in loans to put two daughters through college. (Hmm. Bernie Sanders鈥檚 free college thing might appeal to the O鈥橫alley tribe.)
All this points out the importance of O鈥橫alley鈥檚 upcoming appearance on聽鈥淭he Daily Show.鈥� Free media is now his last hope. He needs to build on interviews and talk show gigs, as Donald Trump has and as Ron Paul used to. He鈥檚 actually a very good musician 鈥� he plays the guitar far better than Bill Clinton did the sax. Maybe 鈥淓llen鈥� wants an Irish band segment. That might help.
