Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley swiped at Hillary Clinton on “Face the Nation” Sunday for being a follower on issues, while wondering why more Democrats aren’t challenging her for the nomination.
O’Malley told host Bob Schieffer he’s “not sure why” more Democrats aren’t challenging Clinton. Former Sen. Jim Webb, Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee are considering runs against Clinton.
“Do you think having more candidates is good for the Democratic Party?” Schieffer asked.
“You mean more than one?” O’Malley responded.
“Here’s a party, they won the last two presidential elections. And yet, it comes down to — it seems to be this one candidate,” Schieffer told O’Malley. “Shouldn’t there be more people out there? Shouldn’t the party of — why is there nobody but you, I don’t mean that in a deprecating way toward you, but you seem to be the lone guy thinking about challenging her right now.”
“Yea, I’m not sure why that is,” O’Malley said. “But I think it would be an extreme poverty indeed if there weren’t more than one person willing to compete for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party.”
O’Malley also implied that Clinton cannot be a follower on issues if she wants to run an effective campaign. O’Malley slammed Clinton for her flip-flops on gay marriage and immigration.
“I believe that the best way to campaign is one-on-one with people,” O’Malley said. “You can’t forge a new, sort of, consensus — you can’t forge public opinion by following public opinion. And you have to engage with people in living room after living room, and luncheonettes and lunch counters. I think that’s the best type of campaign is the one-on-one contact where we actually talk about the better choices we need to make to get earnings to rise again.”