O’Malley 2020 kind of reminds me of John Edwards 2008. Edwards was doing everything he could to combat the perception that he was to the right of primary opponents Clinton and Obama (a perception that seemed to exist simply because he was a white male with a Southern accent). So he ran to Clinton’s and Obama’s left, at least on economic issues. He had to overcompensate because he realized that his “natural” base within the party wouldn’t win him the nomination, so he had to go left.
Similarly, I think O’Malley senses that the smart political play is for him to go maximalist on voicing opposition to Trump, and going left on the issues, and so his Twitter feed is filled with hyperbolic denunciations of Trump (e.g., “racist”, “fascist”, and the latest: “
knuckle-dragging throwback”), and he’s out there doing things like protesting against the Dakota Access Pipeline and advocating for a $15 minimum wage.
Could it actually work though? Or is O’Malley stuck, in that no matter what policy positions he advocates or what rhetorical bombs he flings at Trump, it’s not going to come across as authentic?
