Democratic Debate Blog: Hillary Clinton supporters ‘shoving,’ DNC truce with Bernie, Grace O’Malley.

Before you could see them, you could hear them.

Hundreds of Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and (fewer) Martin O’Malley supporters stood outside the front entrance of St. Anselm College, chanting and waving their signs as the sun set behind the picturesque campus.

The large majority of supporters were waving blue signs emblazoned with a giant H, yelling “I believe that she will win!” “Hillary! Our nominee” and, “I’m with her!”

Bernie supporters, interspersed in the Hillary masses, chanted “Feel the Bern!”

About 10 to 12 O’Malley supporters stood in the corner holding their white banners and cardboard cutouts of their candidate.

At one point, O’Malley supporters Brendan Dekempeo and Kimberly McCloy of Merrimack, ran into the center of the throng and danced around their rivals, carrying a huge O’Malley banner between them.

“It’s to get people hyped!” said McCloy, who was also carrying an O’Malley cutout. McCloy and Dekempeo said they see the underdog Democratic candidate as someone who will bring new leadership to the party.

When asked if they felt a bit outnumbered, McCloy nodded.

“Yeah, I just feel like the Hillary people are a bit aggressive,” she said. “The Bernie ones are more nice, but Hillary’s fans are more aggressive. They just are shoving and there’s no stopping them.” . . .

Standing up for Dad

Grace O’Malley was about 10 years old when her dad was elected mayor of Baltimore. Martin O’Malley now running for president of the United States, but one of his daughter’s favorite memories is from that earlier time in his political career.

“We were driving to this big party that my mom had organized for him, and he made us pull over really abruptly,” Grace O’Malley said.

He had seen a fire station with litter out front, she said.

“He was already late to this birthday party,” Grace O’Malley said. “But he pulled over and had us all get out and clean up the whole fire station. Moments like that – he’s just so hands-on, he has such a big heart.”

Now in her mid-20s and an elementary school teacher in Baltimore, O’Malley’s daughter retold that story at Saint Anselm’s College in Manchester during an interview with the Monitor. She had just driven seven hours from her hometown to see her father – also a former governor of Maryland – debate rivals Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire.

O’Malley has struggled to register more than single digits in the polls, but his daughter said she wasn’t surprised he decided to run for president.

“He’s always been in it for the tough fight,” she said. “We knew going into this campaign that it was going to be an uphill battle. He just has this calling, I guess, to really help the country.”

Grace O’Malley, a Georgetown University graduate, has campaigned to promote her father’s positions on student debt and college affordability. Her father has talked on the trail about the debt his family has incurred to send his two daughters, the older of his four children, to college already.

“I had to make a tough choice: Do I got to the college we can afford or do I take out loans to go to the college of my dreams?” Grace O’Malley wrote in a campaign email. “At the age of 18, I made the decision to follow my dreams. My family and I now face years of debt – and we know we’re not the only ones.”

In New Hampshire, she recalled her family’s trip to the Iowa State Fair, and her brother Will’s nervous tick (he plays with his hair during the debates), and her dad’s traditional Christmas morning eggs.

“We’ll probably be talking about Iowa, talking about New Hampshire a little more this Christmas,” she said.

Thirteen-year-old Jack O’Malley, is more class clown that political pundit, his oldest sister said.

“He’s always joking, ‘Dad, if you had me out in New Hampshire, you’d be at 100 percent by now!’” Grace O’Malley said.

https://politics.concordmonitor.com/2015/12/politics-election/democratic-debate-live-blog-hillary-clinton-supporters-shoving-outside-debate-hall/