海角大神

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O鈥橫alley hit the campaign hustings in New Hampshire last Thursday, hoping to build momentum off what most observers thought was a strong, if overshadowed, debate performance last Tuesday, and your intrepid blogger was there to chronicle the event.聽

The event, held at Dartmouth College鈥檚 Hopkins Center for the Arts, drew a standing room only crowd of about 200 (when I tweeted out that total during the event, a Twitter follower [and likely Sanders supporter] tweeted back: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a large crowd?鈥�) In contrast to the Kasich NH event I attended, which attracted mostly middle-aged people, this crowd was composed primarily of students, which is not surprising given the location. But it is also the case that O鈥橫alley is really targeting this age demographic, as he seeks to supplant Bernie Sanders as the main Democratic alternative to Hillary Clinton. Most of the O鈥橫alley staff there were also young, and they were busy taking names and handing out swag (I scored a nice O鈥橫alley Blue thermal sleeve.)

O鈥橫alley was wearing a dress shirt and tie, with sleeves slightly rolled up, and was greeted with polite applause as entered the room. He opened with a short 鈥� perhaps 10 minute 鈥� stump speech touting his record as governor, and as mayor of Baltimore, before taking questions, which covered a number of topics, ranging from climate change to combating racial bias to protecting union rights. In citing his record, he started by emphasizing his data-driven approach to governing both as Baltimore鈥檚 mayor (鈥淐ity Stats鈥�) and as governor, in which he pushed hard to get better measures of problems, such as the types and sources of crime, in order to better craft and target potential solutions. In O鈥橫alley鈥檚 telling, that data-driven approach has been adopted by many other state governments, and serves as a model of how he would govern as president.

In parsing O鈥橫alley鈥檚 answers to questions, it is becomes immediately clear what his campaign strategy is 鈥� and why he has had trouble gaining polling traction. For the most part, O鈥橫alley is staking out positions that appeal to the progressive wing of the Democratic Party (his critics in Maryland labeled him a traditional 鈥渢ax and spend liberal鈥�), but he does so in a way that acknowledges that there are usually two sides to every issue, and that any effort to find solutions must involve working with the other side. For example, in response to a question about the need for stronger gun control, O鈥橫alley noted that as Maryland鈥檚 governor聽聽in the nation. Among its provisions, it banned several types of assault weapons, limited gun magazine size, instituted fingerprint checks for hand gun purchases, and generally earned the ire of the NRA. (You will recall that in Tuesday鈥檚 debate O鈥橫alley cited the National Rifle Association as the political enemy of which he鈥檚 most proud.) As O鈥橫alley told the story, however, he laid the groundwork for passing this legislation by first meeting with the state鈥檚 hunters to make it clear that he had no intention of taking away their guns. (It is worth noting that the legislation was passed by a Democrat-controlled state legislature.)

O鈥橫alley鈥檚 record on gun control is arguably stronger than that of any one of the Democrats in the campaign and makes a potentially appealing contrast with Sanders who, you will recall, found himself on the defensive during Tuesday鈥檚 debate over several gun-related votes he made while serving in Congress. (Notably, when asked by Anderson Cooper whether Sanders was tough enough on guns, Clinton replied, 鈥淣o, not at all.鈥�) And, in fact,聽聽鈥� raising the minimum wage, support for same-sex marriage, raising corporate taxes 鈥� O鈥橫alley has staked out positions that progressive Democrats should find appealing. As yet, however, he has not been able to attract much support in the polls. Nationally, has him fourth, with less than 2% support.

He鈥檚 not doing much better in New Hampshire, where he also languishes in fourth place, with

As I watched O鈥橫alley make his case to the students, it struck me that one reason why he has yet to attract more support is his willingness to acknowledge that to make any headway toward the goals he espouses requires compromising with those whose views with which they may not agree. Again and again during Thursday鈥檚 event, he touted his ability as executive 鈥� whether as mayor or governor 鈥� to bring opposing sides together to get things done. Moreover, he did so in a relatively understated manner; although O鈥橫alley showed flashes of humor, for the most part he makes his points in a low-key classroom lecturing style. This is in sharp contrast to Sanders鈥檚 fire-breathing, take-no-prisoners assault on the 鈥渂illionaire class.鈥� For many potential voters, particularly younger ones, who are fed up with politics as usual, I can see why Sanders鈥檚 sense of moral clarity and outrage is particularly appealing. As one commenter聽, 鈥淐linton is all about the 鈥榃hat鈥� and the 鈥楬ow;鈥� Bernie is all about the 鈥榃hy鈥�.鈥� That is, Bernie鈥檚 appeal is based in part on his ability to make the case for why economic inequality is unfair. I think the commenter鈥檚 point about Clinton also applies to O鈥橫alley 鈥� as a former executive, he is acutely aware that progress only comes through compromise, and therefore the 鈥渨hy鈥� is often not enough 鈥� one has to understand how to build support for issues by bridging differences, rather than attacking opponents. This invariably means compromise 鈥� a dirty word to those who base their fight on principle and moral clarity. Now, one can argue that O鈥橫alley can talk-the-talk regarding the need to compromise, but he didn鈥檛 necessarily walk-the-walk. When he stepped down after his second term as governor, critics suggested that while O鈥橫alley was able to almost eliminate the huge state budget deficit he inherited when taking office, he did so largely by raising taxes, rather than reducing spending. This alienated enough voters to propel long-shot Republican Larry Hogan into office as his replacement. So he wasn鈥檛 nearly as willing to reach out for compromise as he suggests.

To date, O鈥橫alley has made 17 visits, spending about 20 days, in the Granite State, but with little to show so far. It鈥檚 hard to see whether he will get a short-term boost based on Tuesday鈥檚 debate 鈥撀犅爃as him at 3% and debate metrics indicate that he spoke for only 18 minutes at Tuesday鈥檚 debate 鈥� more than 10 minutes less than Clinton or Sanders. O鈥橫alley noted during the campaign event that Cooper told him beforehand that he would not get as much podium time as either Clinton or Sanders. (Not surprisingly, given her strong debate performance, Clinton has moved into a tie with Sanders in New Hampshire, although I remind you of the usual caveats of relying on a single poll to gauge voter sentiments.) But there are five more debates to go. To break through, O鈥橫alley鈥檚 task is to persuade voters that he shares Sanders鈥檚 moral outrage toward the inequities 鈥� economic, social, and racial 鈥� that afflict society, but that he has a better track record at addressing those inequities. At the same time, he needs to convince them that he is not carrying any of the trust issues and negative baggage associated with Clinton鈥檚 candidacy. This is a tall order, particularly聽聽he has been able to raise so far. That鈥檚 all the more reason for him to take advantage of the remaining debates to position himself as the realistic alternative to Hillary Clinton. But it would help his case if the debate moderators gave him equal time.

Matthew Dickinson publishes his Presidential Power blog at .