Ugh, Democratic President candidate was interviewed by GQ. I got a heads up on this at Wonkette (thanks!) and it contained a paragraph that hit me wrong.
But even if O'Malley takes off the gloves, it's hard to imagine how he'll hurt Clinton. “Sometimes people have asked me, ‘Are you to the left or to the right of her?’ and I respond, ‘I am to the forward of her,’ ” O'Malley says.
“I arrived at these things before she did because I am of a different generation than she is.” He adds, “I do have a new perspective to offer, and it is generational, and there is a big generational shift under way within our country. The attitudes of people under 40 are very different than those of people over 50.” That last bit may be true—and it may also be a badly veiled jab at the 67-year-old Clinton—but does it make the case for O'Malley? After all, O'Malley is 52.
If the attitudes of people under 40 cannot be understood by people over 50 because they are "different," does O'Malley realize he is 52 . . . or over 40 . . . one of the people he claims don't get it? That means he admits to not being able to understand people under 40 because they are not in his generation. Ugh! Definitely not a well thought out or stated statement.
And, then there is the implied hit at Hillary Clinton's age versus every other candidate older than him.
Of course, O'Malley does not make this statement against Bernie Sanders who is going on 74, 7 years older than Hillary Clinton who is 67 . . . and 22 years older than O'Malley.
So, why focus on Hillary's age and not the age of the other popular Democratic contender? I call sexism . . . an older woman is somehow OLDER than an older man because . . . she's female.
And, at 52? O'Malley is middle aged. He's as close to a baby boomer as he can get, if he isn't a baby boomer himself. In fact, if the data is correct, O'Malley and Hillary ARE baby boomers together. She is not of a different generation than him, she'd be his older sister and not his mother.
It is as if O'Malley has not realized that he is no longer under or at 40 and in that young generation. He's a middle aged man. Someone needs to tell him, "Hey, man. You're the over 50 folks who you claim are out of touch of the under 40s. Might want to rethink that, yeah?"
If he wants to age compare, many of the GOPers running for President are around his age.
Jindal, Rubio, Cruz and Walker are all younger than O'Malley. Paul, Christie, Huckabee and Santorum are within his decade age group. Fiorina, the only other female is 60 . . . also older than O'Malley.
They are also nutters. Regardless of their age, they are nutters.
Does him being younger make him extra special qualified? No. Does it matter that he got his ideas on his website first? Not much to me. I'd rather see well thought out and responsive than quick.
Does it make his ideas fresher? Nope. After all Bernie Sanders has the similar ideas as O'Malley and he's a good 20+ years older than O'Malley. It reminds me of a quote from SkyFall
Q: 007. I'm your new Quartermaster.
James Bond: You must be joking...
Q: Why? Because I'm not wearing a lab coat?
James Bond: Because you still have spots.
Q: My complexion is hardly relevant.
James Bond: Your incompetence is.
Q: Age is no guarantee of efficiency.
James Bond: And youth is no guarantee of innovation.
O'Malley's "youth" does not guarantee that his ideas are better. Nor does his "youth" guarantee that he is in touch with the young generations. After all, both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have attracted young people across the board, as well as the middle-aged, seasoned, well seasoned, and well done.
O'Malley's "younger" age does not give him extra points. In fact, IMHO, his comments make him look horribly immature and as if he did not think this through . . . or that he doesn't see himself clearly (I kept wonder if he realized he was over 40). He has to bring more to the table than his birth date. If he has fresher ideas, bring them. His criminal justice website is good, but Bernie Sanders, 20 years his senior, also has a good plan. Even better, Black Lives Matterhas an even BETTER racial justice platform.
O'Malley's relative "youth" is no guarantee that he has better ideas. I'm not looking at a candidate age, except to see if they are healthy enough to run and be President.
GQ whole profile on Martin O'Malleyhas some decent information. Some of it interesting. But for me, that age-related comment on Hillary when she is not his oldest competitor struck me wrong. There is also part where he had to address how his time as Mayor contributed to the problems facing Blacks. Decent read. I don't know if it did him any favors. He got the attention he needs, but it's not all good.