Martin O'Malley Announces His Intention To Run For President in 2016

Earlier today, former Maryland Governor and former Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley announced that he would be running for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2016. O'Malley's announcement means that three Democrats - Bernie Sanders, O'Malley and Hillary Clinton - have now formally announced their 2016 Presidential bids.

According to a number of recent polls, O'Malley is going to have an exceedingly hard time catching former Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Clinton in the polls. Hillary Clinton currently enjoys the support of more than 60% of Democratic and Democratic-leaning supporters, while O'Malley has the support of less than 2% of the party's supporters.

Hillary Clinton is looking to run a campaign that falls more in the center, while Bernie Sanders is far to the left. This leaves Martin O'Malley to construct a campaign that will likely fall somewhere in the middle.

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In his Presidential bid announcement, O'Malley took a direct shot at Hillary Clinton for being too cozy with Wall Street. O'Malley stated that "the presidency is not a crown to be passed back and forth by you between royal families". The two "royal families" could square off in the 2016 Presidential election, as Jeb Bush is one of the early favorites to win the Republican nomination, while Hillary Clinton is the clear favorite to win the Democratic nomination.

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Supporters of Martin O'Malley point to two facts as to why he stands a chance against Hillary Clinton:

1) He overcame very long odds to win the Baltimore mayorship in 1999

2) Barack Obama beat the heavily favored Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination in 2008

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Can lightning strike twice? Could Hillary Clinton be toppled once again by a relatively unheralded candidate? Seems unlikely, though O'Malley will certainly be giving it his best shot.

Filed under: General Knowledge