Presidential hopeful Martin O’Malley comes to the Heights

Presidential candidate Martin O’Malley visited the Heights yesterday to speak about the upcoming New Hampshire primary.

The College Democrats, Boston College for O’Malley 2016, Eagle Political Society, and UGBC co-hosted the Democratic presidential candidate in McGuinn 121.

Governor of Maryland O’Malley is a distant third in the race for the Democratic presidential bid. According to the Real Clear Politics, O’Malley is polling at 1.8 per cent in national polls, compared to Hillary Clinton at 54.8 per cent, and Bernie Sanders at 32.5 per cent.

O’Malley may be polling low, but he demonstrated last night that his energy is certainly greater than many of the other candidates. He spoke in front of a crowded auditorium and received a passionate welcome.

Entering the room to the iconic Boston song “Shipping Up to Boston,” O’Malley arrived with energy and spirit, ready to speak with the students and explain why he should in fact be the next United States President.

He said: “I am running for president of the United States, and I intend to win this, but I need your help.

“Our country is looking for a new leader, and although there may be a better person to lead our country forward, this year they’re not running and I am.”

He began his speech by explaining the important role of BC students in the New Hampshire primary.

He said: “Although you are not New Hampshire, you are close to it, and so you can change the world.”

O’Malley encouraged us to go to New Hampshire and get involved with campaign in any way they could, adding: “Every individual person still matters.”

He went on to discuss his role as Mayor of Baltimore and his ability to overcome the adversities he faced during his time.

“As mayor of Baltimore, I ran at a time where our city had become the most addicted, violent, and abandoned city in America.

“We raised the minimum wage, we invested more in education than less…we made our public schools the best in America for five years in a row.”

O’Malley expressed support towards Barack Obama, saying he has “put our country in a better direction,” and further applauding him for his ability to continue job growth over the past 67 months.

“Our country’s doing better, we are creating jobs…there is no progress without jobs.”

On economic reform, O’Malley elaborated on the need for new wage and labor policies forcing America to “square its shoulders” to the issues.

He said: “Our economy is not money, it is people, it is all of our people. Nothing works well in our economy when wages are not going up.”

On the importance of fair wages, O’Malley added: “When women succeed, America succeeds.”

This led into his next point about the need for a more efficient immigration process to revitalize the economy.

“Want to make wages go up?” he asked the crowd, “then let’s get 11 million of our neighbors out of the off-the-books, underground, shadow economy, onto the books, into the full light American economy by passing comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship.”

The Governor also expressed his passion for climate initiatives, analyzing the variety of benefits outside of cutting down harmful gases that these initiatives can provide.

In regards to the constructing of clean energy infrastructure, he said: “This is an engineering challenge. These are the things, the goals, and ambitions of great people.”

But the most noteworthy part of the night came when O’Malley was asked by a member of the audience of the significance of Vice President Joe Biden choosing not to run, and the effect it has on his chances of election.

“Oh yes, I’ve firmly secured third place!” he sarcastically exclaimed, inciting laughter throughout the room.

O’Malley concluded his speech by touching upon several policies such as investing in domestic infrastructure, clean energy initiatives, a debt-free college plan, more comprehensive gun control legislation, and his plan to combat terrorist groups overseas.

He was clear on the importance of implementing his policies when elected to office. O’Malley said: “What’s the difference between a dream and a goal? A deadline.”

Following O’Malley’s speech, The Tab spoke with Tyler Shelepak, President of the College Democrats, on the significance of Governor O’Malley’s visit to BC.

Tyler said: “I think the major significance of Governor O’Malley coming to BC is to open some dialogue.

“He has a proven track record of addressing the issues that college students hold dear – like gun violence, wage economics, and climate change…I believe that Governor O’Malley can show our students that our political voice does matter and energize us for an era of new leadership.”