What People Are Saying About Martin O’Malley at the CBS News Debate in Des Moines, Iowa
“Winner: Martin O’Malley” … “Showed He’s a True Contender Best Showing” … “Iowa Political Watchers Tell Me: Strategically, O’Malley Had the Best Performance” ...
“Gave By Far the Best Democratic Debate Answer on Refugees” … “A lot of Volume Went to Martin O’Malley” … “O’Malley Had a Strong Night. Won’t Be Surprised to See Him Gain Ground” … “O’Malley Truly Torched Twitter Tonight” … “On Immigration, O’Malley is Best” … “Earned Thunderous Applause” … “Pain[ted] Himself as the Fresh Face in the Democratic Party” … “His Best Night of the Campaign to Date. Solid, Confident, and Often Lyrical”
Washington Post Headline: Winners: Martin O’Malley
Bloomberg Headline: Report Card: Clinton Opens the Door to Her Rivals: Sanders and O'Malley Step Up in Iowa Debate.
Bustle Headline: O'Malley's Debate Performance Was His Best Yet
Boston Globe Headline: Martin O’Malley’s big line of the night? Slamming Donald Trump
Baltimore Sun Headline: O'Malley takes tougher approach in second debate
Washington Examiner Headline: O'Malley calls Trump an 'immigrant-bashing carnival barker'
The Week Headline: Martin O'Malley Earns Thunderous Applause by Calling Donald Trump An 'Immigrant-Bashing Carnival Barker'
Talk Radio News Headline: O’Malley: Trump Is An ‘Immigrant-bashing Carnival-Barker’
Vox Headline: Martin O'Malley Gave, By Far, the Best Democratic Debate Answer on Refugees
Bloomberg Politics Headline: After ‘Carnival Barker’ Barb, Trump Calls O’Malley a ‘Clown’
Mic Headline: Martin O'Malley: "My Son Is Not a Pair of Boots on the Ground"
Time Headline: Watch Martin O’Malley Compare Hillary Clinton to Annie Oakley
Des Moines Register Headline: Clinton, O'Malley Spar over Minimum Wage
Politico Headline: O'Malley Got the Counter-Punch from Donald Trump He was Spoiling For
Business Insider Headline: Donald Trump snipes back after Martin O'Malley calls him a 'carnival barker' at the Democratic debate
The Hill Headline: O'Malley Slams Trump as 'Carnival barker' on Immigration
Adam Sharp (Video): “A lot of that volume went to Martin O’Malley who wound up in the double digits having been in the 1, 2, 3% range in the overall conversation.”
Gloria Berger (Video): “O'Malley was right about Hillary Clinton and Annie Oakley. Remember that?”
Rick Unger (Video): “I thought Governor O'Malley hit on the one point that isn't discussed enough and he went there, is our need to have more human intelligence on the ground around the world, particularly where this kind of a problem is breeding … he hit it.”
Washington Post: “Winners: Martin O’Malley … He also showed a willingness to go at Hillary Clinton aggressively and unapologetically. And to tout his record as having accomplished many of the liberal goals that Clinton and Bernie Sanders just talk about. His riff on why candidates shouldn't use the phrase "boots on the ground" was powerful, even if he did use an anecdote ... to make his point … taken in its totality, tonight's debate was one of the better moments for O'Malley in this race.”
Bloomberg: “O’Malley B+, Clinton B, Sanders B … [O’Malley’s] best night of the campaign to date. Solid, confident, and often lyrical ... Frequently emotional and engaging on domestic policy, especially when effectively pushing his Maryland governing record and hitting Clinton hard on gun control … spoke movingly about an Iowa military family ... this performance will rally his supporters and allow him to enter the next phase of the campaign with the potential to be more than a sidebar player.”
Washington Post: “Martin O’Malley ... seemed more aggressive on Saturday night – attacking both his rivals onstage, and Republicans far off of it. He got one of the night’s biggest rounds of applause by referring to GOP front-runner Donald Trump as ‘That immigrant-bashing carnival barker’ … O’Malley drew the debate’s first sustained applause, by mentioning the Republican front-runner Democrats love to hate.”
Bustle: One contender who turned in a much better — and more aggressive — performance than in past debates was Martin O’Malley, who had his best debate night yet.
The Week: “O'Malley … got a moment in the spotlight ... with an elaborate Donald Trump ... insult, which was met with thunderous applause, ended with a hilarious mic drop.”
Bustle: “O'Malley has finally found his voice during this bizarre 2016 election season. O'Malley's closing remarks at the end of the second Democratic debate were oozing with presidential charm, showing that maybe we shouldn't underestimate the under-the-radar candidate.”
Talk Radio News: Martin O’Malley received his biggest applause during Saturday night’s debate for criticizing Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump. Speaking on border security, O’Malley called for a pathway to citizenship for immigrants living in the country illegally.”
NPR: “O'Malley, pain[ted] himself as the fresh face in the Democratic party.”
Mic: “He made a successful bid for the hearts of Iowa voters by responding to a question about his fitness as commander-in-chief with the personal story of an Iowa mother.
Business Insider: “Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) got one of the biggest applause lines of Saturday night's debate for his criticism of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump. Asked about border security and immigration reform, O'Malley called for a path to citizenship for immigrants living in the US illegally and slammed Trump for supposed ‘immigrant bashing.’"
Bloomberg: “O'Malley blasted the Republican party front-runner who has been calling for restrictions on immigration and deportations of people living here illegally, earning a thunderous ovation … O'Malley … argued [he’d] be tougher on the financial elites than Clinton. O'Malley ruled out Larry Summers and Robert Rubin, who served as treasury secretaries for past Democratic presidents, from serving in his administration.”
The Hill: “He bashed the GOP front-runner candidate’s immigration rhetoric … O’Malley has repeatedly sought to use immigration as a wedge issue between him and the rest of the field.”
Washington Examiner: “O'Malley touted his role in passing comprehensive gun control and went after the Vermont socialist for his 2005 vote for the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms (PLCCA) Act to give "immunity" to gun dealers.”
Time: “Martin O’Malley compared Hillary Clinton to famous female gunslinger Annie Oakley during a discussion of gun control during Saturday’s Democratic debate. The comparison came as former Maryland Gov. O’Malley accused Clinton of flip-flopping on the issue of gun control, which she now supports.”
Bleeding Heartland: O’Malley was the most-improved candidate. Compared to the first debate, he sounded less scripted and spoke more forcefully. Lots of people googled his name, especially during the first hour. O’Malley’s top moment on Twitter came when he employed a crowd-pleasing line from his stump speech, deriding Donald Trump as an "immigrant-bashing carnival barker." His problem is that Clinton and Sanders were mostly solid. I don’t see O’Malley making headway against the front-runners unless one or both make big mistakes.
USA Today: “O’Malley also slammed Clinton, calling her Wall Street proposals ‘weak tea.’”
Associated Press: “Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley paint[ed] the former senator from New York as a lackey for Wall Street and corporate interests.”
Mark Halperin @MarkHalperin: My debate report card grades: O'Malley: B+, Sanders: B, Clinton: B. Full report cards coming soon.
Joe Trippi@JoeTrippi: .@MartinOMalley had a strong night too. Won't be surprised to see him gain some ground.
James Asher @jimasher: O'Malley showed he's a contender. His best showing.
Matt Viser @mviser: Could this debate be Martin O’Malley’s breakout moment?
Courtney Crowder @CourtneyCare: Interesting takeaways from the @KCCINews focus group...O'Malley looking like a real candidate for people who didn't think of him before.
Quentin Misiag @quentin_misiag: Iowa political watchers tell me: Strategically, @MartinOMalley had the best performance. "He finally has a seat at the table." #DemDebate
Slate@Slate: Bernie had burns, but O’Malley truly torched Twitter tonight, according to @CBS: http://slate.me/1kxbgmr #DemDebate
Natalie Andrews @nataliewsj: Social media buzz for Martin O'Malley was up 112% versus the last debate, per social analytics @Zoomph #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/oeoYxjLkUi
Jose Antonio Vargas @joseiswriting: Not sure. I havent studied candidates enough. On #immigration, @MartinOMalley is best. But thats just one issue.
Amanda Krenz @ACKrenz: .@MartinOMalley the only candidate in the spin room. #DemDebate @weareiowa5news @ThisWeekInIowa pic.twitter.com/tReqTNuLOE
Gabriel Debenedetti @gdebenedetti: One candidate is braving the spin room: @MartinOMalley pic.twitter.com/aFUr4W7Sh2
Grant Rodgers @GrantMRodgers: "It's like being at the mall in line for Santa," cameraman remarks about trying to get to O'Malley. #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/P7v3RgcUqX
