Martin O'Malley: Biden run would mean 'one more lifelong Democrat' in race.

The former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley on Sunday welcomed the prospect of Vice-President Joe Biden running for president in 2016, saying it would be good to have another “lifelong Democrat in the race”.

O’Malley denied the remark was a veiled criticism of Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont and self-declared democratic socialist who has eclipsed O’Malley as a challenger to Hillary Clinton, the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination.

On Saturday Biden, who is widely reported to be considering entry to the race, met Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren in Washington. According to CNN, which broke the news of the meeting, the two politicians lunched alone for an hour, and discussed economic policy.

“I have a great deal of respect for Vice-President Biden,” O’Malley said, in an appearance on ABC. “He’s a very, very good and decent man, it would be nice to have at least one more lifelong Democrat in the race, and I think his wisdom and his experience would add much to this Democratic conversation.”

Asked if that was a criticism of Sanders – who on Saturday night addressed the latest in a succession of thousands-strong audiences, this time in Charleston, South Carolina, O’Malley smiled and said: “No, it’s a compliment to Vice-President Biden.”

O’Malley did not directly respond to criticism from the Republican frontrunner, Donald Trump, who this week responded to an O’Malley campaign event outside one of his hotels in Las Vegas by saying he knew “nothing” about the former Maryland governor. . .

On Sunday, O’Malley repeated his call for more Democratic debates to be held, and sooner, in order for the currently five-strong field to outline polices and respond to “hate-mongering” from Trump and others in the 17-strong Republican field on issues including women’s rights and immigration.

The first Democratic debate of the 2016 race will be held in Nevada on 15 October. The first Republican debate, in Cleveland on 6 August, attracted huge press and public interest and helped catapult Trump to the front of the field. The second GOP debate will take place in California on 16 September. . .

O’Malley, who said he wanted to outline policy positions on wage stagnation, education and energy and climate change, said Democrats were “really hurting ourselves” by not staging more debates sooner.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/23/martin-omalley-joe-biden-bernie-sanders-democrats