Then why is Clinton the only candidate that seems to be under consideration, despite holding views that a lot of the base doesn’t agree with? And why, despite candidates with strong liberal records, are activists clamoring for Liz Warren to get in? Why not just get behind O’Malley?
Oh yeah, because O’Malley isn’t a big name. Warren and Clinton are. It’s all about the sizzle, not the steak.
Yeah, but we still know who plans to run and who doesn’t. Warren doesn’t plan to run and she is neither the only liberal on earth or the most qualified one.
Not very, given the likelihood of her being the nominee and the certainty of her being a major figure in the party for the rest of her life. If O’Malley thinks he has a shot at the ticket himself, he needs to remember that practically nobody outside Maryland or wonk circles has ever heard of him, and even those who are don’t have a clear picture. That means promoting himself and his ideas and accomplishments, not trying to tear down an icon. The Republicans haven’t been able to do that despite a couple of decades of serious effort, and he won’t be able to either. But somebody with widespread genuine support nationally, created by genuinely showing himself to be progressive Presidential timber, could get him on the ticket, conceivably even the top slot if something happens, or at least in a top administration post. A negative campaign by a near unknown hardly ever works, though.
Treated with kid gloves by O’Malley. Since she’s the prohibitive frontrunner, any Democrat who wants a career needs to take it easy until they get the credibility to kneecap her the way Obama eventually did. if O’Malley harms Clinton without presenting a credible alternative, he’ll never work in that town again, so to speak.
Anybody who says, more than a year before the nominee is going to be picking a running mate, that he wants to be that running mate, is very unlikely to get the job. It’s considered bad form to want the Vice Presidency that much.
That’s why they pretend to run for President instead (as Chafee is said to be considering but c’mon now), or simply make a lot of speeches and do a lot of party groundwork.