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Martin O'Malley has the kind of experience that would typically benefit a Democrat who wants to guide the party's future after a devastating loss last fall. election,
He is a former governor, former mayor and… 2016 presidential candidates Who till recently worked in the administration of President Joe Biden. Yet O'Malley faces a difficult path in the race to become the next chair of the Democratic National Committee as the party comes to terms with the reality that key areas voters turned against it,
Critical to O'Malley's effort is a campaign platform, first reported by CBS News, that calls for reuniting the Democratic Party “at the kitchen table of every American family.”
“We suffered a very bad loss,” O'Malley said in an interview. He urged Democrats to “learn from this to win the battles ahead.”
Their vision is focused on a 57-state and territory strategy, with campaigns planning to harness “world-class AI tools for voter outreach, research, communications and financial management, eliminating barriers to effective campaigning.” O'Malley also focused on “reinvesting in direct voter registration,” part of his pledge for the party to “make voter protection and registration pillars of the change we need to win.”
Democrats face a chaotic election cycle in 2024, pressured within the party to concede President Biden To end his re-election campaign after a disappointing debate performance in June. While Mr Biden ultimately ended his bid in July Supported Vice President Kamala Harris To take his place at the top of the ticket, the 107-day race resulted in Democrats losing the White House and the Senate, while failing to gain control of the House, though by a slim margin.
Now the party is essentially leaderless and is preparing for an emboldened Donald Trump to return to Washington, where he could benefit. Republican unified control Congress and the White House. Given the uneasiness among Democrats has become abundantly clear in the weeks since the presidential election, these dynamics will play out well come the election for DNC chair on February 1.
“I'd like to see someone who doesn't come from the Washington circuit, who has actually been to the region of the country,” Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur, a battleground district Democrat, said of the race for DNC chair.
Failure can mean opportunity. The party's struggles mean that O'Malley, as well as other ambitious Democrats, have a chance to become the next president and wield broad influence during a critical time for the party as it seeks ground again in the 2026 midterms and 2028 presidential elections. wants to achieve. , Despite all his obvious weaknesses, Trump was more successful than ever in this election, winning in all seven battleground states of the presidency. Whether what happens in 2024 turns out to be a solid turning point for Democrats is likely to loom over the chair's race in the coming weeks.
“This is a huge change that has happened since this election went in the wrong direction for us,” O'Malley said. “What we need now is not a caretaker, but a change maker.”
Also being seen among those running for the chair are Ken Martin, leader of Minnesota's Democratic Party branch and DNC vice chair, as well as Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler. at the forefrontMartin has deep ties within the DNC and can claim statewide victories for candidates in Minnesota, while Wikler has the political gravitas to help lead the party in one of the country's seven presidential battlegrounds.
Earlier this month, Martin announced an outline that includes his campaign calling for “democratic infrastructure in all 3,244 counties” across the country, as well as addressing the branding issue made clear by the 2024 election results.
Martin states in his framework, “Most Americans now believe that the Republican Party best represents the interests of the working class and the poor, and that the Democratic Party is the party of the rich and elite.” “This is a serious indictment of our party brand. We must be prepared to dig deep and advance the Democratic agenda to unite families across race, age, background and class.”
During a brief conversation with party leaders at a meeting in Washington, D.C., last week, where Martin and O'Malley also spoke, Wikler told his fellow Democrats, “We need to change the way we communicate.” “There needs to be a plan, so we show what we mean.” We say we fight for working people.”
This is not the first time that O'Malley has been linked to leading the party. A few days after the 2016 election, he posted on social media That despite encouragement he would not run for the chair. Eight years later, he is looking for a small window to present his case while emphasizing his long career in politics.
O'Malley served as Mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007 and won two terms as Governor of Maryland, including one major term. Democratic Governors AssociationHowever, his political power has since faded, which is clearly evidenced by the struggles he faced during his campaign for the presidency in the 2016 Democratic primaries. Before announcing his run for chair, O'Malley spent about a year Served as Commissioner of Social Security in the Federal Government.
That experience is embedded in O'Malley's platform, which also calls for “creating a feedback loop for our local and state elected officials to ensure they can help inform our messaging and strategy. ”
“We all know we need to restore our credibility,” O'Malley said. “We need to learn from our failures, as well as from our candidates who succeeded. But only one of us [in the race for DNC chair] “Really proven to have the ability to make change quickly, which is what we need to do now to win the next election.”
Contributed to this report.