Can Martin O’Malley Pull Off an Upset?

'If you depend on cable TV news and the national media to know what’s happening in the presidential nominating contests, you think the big news from the Iowa Democratic Party’s Jefferson-Jackson Dinner was that Sen. Bernie Sanders focused his remarks on the records of Hillary and Bill Clinton. But if you watched the speeches on CSPAN, you might have a very different take: former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley could be the story coming out of the Iowa caucuses.

The Iowa Events Center was packed with supporters for all three campaigns, and anyone watching live on CSPAN saw raucous displays of enthusiasm for all three candidates. But there was one major difference. While the Sanders and Clinton campaigns paid for their supporters’ tickets, O’Malley supporters bought their own tickets. That bodes well for O’Malley in a state where voters have to be committed enough to a candidate to spend hours on a cold winter day at a caucus.

O’Malley doesn’t have to place first to “win” the Iowa caucuses. He needs to beat the expectations. In 1984 longshot candidate Gary Hart only garnered 16 percent of the caucus vote, but that was enough to unexpectedly come in second behind former Vice President, making Gary Hart the story coming out of Iowa and setting him up for an upset victory over Mondale in the New Hampshire primary.

Martin O’Malley knows this story. He was a young field organizer for Gary Hart’s 1984 campaign in both Iowa and New Hampshire. And it’s a story that could repeat itself in 2016.'

http://www.reardonreports.com/can-martin-omalley-pull-off-an-upset/