Martin O’Malley

Who Won the Dem Debate? Hillary Clinton!

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Democratic Party debate.
Democratic Party debate.

I’m a progressive, but I’m a progressive who likes to get things done. I know how to find common ground, but I know how to stand my ground.
— Hillary Clinton, October 13, 2015

The Democratic Party had its first presidential debate on Tuesday night. If you have to ask who won, you didn’t watch it. In my opinion, there was no contest. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won, hands down. She was poised under fire and smart in her answers. Obviously, the most prepared candidate– which comes with having more experience than anyone else on stage– Clinton took a bashing from CNN moderator Anderson Cooper and pot shots from a few others, but she came out on top.

Yesterday, the “who won?” buzz was all over social media. Senator Bernie Sanders raised a pile of money overnight after the debate, and a few focus groups and unscientific online polls said Sanders won the debate. In my opinion, Sanders stuck to his talking points (which I agree with), but the debate was a good chance to go bold. The only time he went bold, in my opinion, was when he said he would “vote for” legalization of marijuana if it were on the ballot. On legalization, Clinton said, let’s watch the states that have legalized marijuana, like Colorado, and learn from them. (I’m for legalization, but I’m OK with her statement. Thomas Jefferson said the states would be the incubators for democracy– trying out new ideas. I don’t want federal interference in state marijuana laws– as Governor Chris Christie has vowed to do if elected.) Clinton did go bold on gun control and said, it’s time we stood up to the NRA. Hallelujah! I have never heard such a strong gun control statement from any politician. (Unfortunately none of the mainstream media picked up on these other debate tidbits, since they are still focused on “your damn emails”.)

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#BlackLivesMatter Protest: Watch the Videos!

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Gov. Martin O'Malley listening to Tia Oso talk about Black Lives Matter and ask what he would do as president.
Gov. Martin O’Malley listening to Tia Oso talk about Black Lives Matter and ask what he would do as president.

I posted the Bernie Sanders segment of the Netroots Nation Presidential Town Hall on Saturday, just hours after Black Lives Matter protesters turned a boring, milktoast political event into a rousing demonstration. The protesters said they didn’t want speeches or a history lesson. They wanted to force the two presidential hopefuls off of their stump speeches and into the reality of black lives by answering the question: As leader of this country, how would you “dismantle structural racism”?

Social media has a way of twisting history. Consequently,  I decided to upload the Martin O’Malley segment of the town hall, which preceded the Sanders segment. Both the O’Malley segment and the Sanders segment appear after the jump. You’ll note that in the O’Malley segment, the protesters clearly ask their question (above) and state that they expect an answer from Sanders also. Jose Antonio Vargas also reiterates that all presidential candidates should be prepared to answer questions on systemic racism and how to stop it.

Sanders had at least 10 minutes to come up with an answer to the protesters’ questions, unlike O’Malley. When Sanders comes out (at the beginning of the second video), Vargas motions to the Black Lives Matter protesters who are still right in front of the stage and suggests that Sanders answer their question first. Sanders dismisses Vargas and the protesters saying, “I’m going to say what I came to say first.” And goes into his stump speech.

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#BlackLivesMatter Protesters Disrupt Netroots Nation Sanders & O’Malley Town Hall

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Senator Bernie Sanders and Journalist Jose Antonio Vargas attempt to quell #BlackLivesMatter protesters at NN15.
Senator Bernie Sanders and Journalist Jose Antonio Vargas attempt to quell #BlackLivesMatter protesters at NN15.

Wow! What just happened?

I was sitting in a big hall with 100s of Bernie Sanders supporters waiting to film a Bernie love fest, but that’s not what happened at the Netroots Nation 2015 Presidential Town Hall with Democratic Presidential candidates Senator Bernie Sanders and Governor Martin O’Malley.

Governor Martin O'Malley answering #BlackLivesMatter protesters.
Governor Martin O’Malley answering #BlackLivesMatter protesters.

About 10 minutes into a softball Q&A session between undocumented journalist Jose Antonio Vargas and O’Malley, approximately 75 Black Lives Matter protesters marched to the front of the hall chanting and completely disrupted the event. O’Malley was talking about how he cleaned up the streets of Baltimore as mayor when the protest started. (Earlier in the event, O’Malley drew boos and stomping from the back of the room; many attendees obviously didn’t agree with his policing policies in Baltimore.)

Protesters chanted the names of black men and women who had been killed at the hands of police– some of whom had been killed in jail. Eventually, NN15 organizers and Vargas gained a bit of control, and O’Malley answered specific questions from the protesters and in the process screwed up by including “black lives matter, white lives matter, all lives matter” in his answer. (Ouch! Doesn’t he follow the conversations on the Internet? I was sitting at a table with fellow BfAZ blogger Bob Lord. We just looked at each other and shook our heads, “Oh, man. I can’t believe he said that!)

The event continued to spin out of control after Sanders took the stage.

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