I felt that when they confronted him during NRN, O'Malley was ready to roll with it and have that conversation right there on the stage, impromptu, without the prior planning and screening that normally go into such a public conversation for a politician. But the protesters really didn't let him do that. If they had, we all may have learned some things.

I don't agree with any of the candidates on all points, unfortunately. So far at least, I'm not going to have a "perfect candidate" in this race. But I think the way O'Malley handled this speaks volumes about his professional character and willing to listen and work with people who confront him emotionally. That is a huge skill for a leader and I am really glad to see it in O'Malley.

They said he only left the stage at NN because his time was up and he and Sanders can't be on the same stage unless it is a DNC debate.

O'Malley isn't perfect. But, I have such respect for a politician who is willing to engage and learn. Plus, he really is putting out great progressive policy and has such a long record of getting progressive policy enacted.

I hope when he delivers his criminal justice reform proposal/speech that people will hear him out. He really deserves more attention than he is getting.

...to the protestors, but he was outstanding in his answers before the disruption and afterward in those interviews you posted, notably the one with Goldie Taylor which is a must-see discussion of policing, criminal justice, and other issues related to black majority communities.

Goldie Taylor ?@goldietaylor 19h19 hours ago
I spent some time talking to @MartinOMalley after today's town hall. Here's the video https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=473565742825306&id=268311603350722&_rdr … @BlueNationRev

Following his instincts on BLM issues which is a good thing.

Thanks, oasis.

advertising, hiring and paying for his Iowa Campaign Staff?

O’Malley Super PAC Hiring Iowa Caucus Field Team

In a clear sign we’ve entered a new era in Iowa campaigns, Starting Line hears that the Martin O’Malley-backing Super PAC, Generation Forward, is planning to go all-in for the Iowa Caucus by hiring and running a large field team separate from the official campaign. Sources tell us that a Generation Forward field operation may consist of up to 100 staffers, and early indications on the ground seem to confirm that.

The Super PAC has been advertising for field positions for over a week now, and Starting Line has gotten a hold of several local recruiting emails. The Des Moines Regional Field Director appears to be hiring for at least 10 positions, seeming to make a statewide number of 100 quite plausible. Generation Forward field trainings began this week, and they’re hosting an after-party following the Democrats’ big Hall of Fame Dinner in Cedar Rapids on Friday specifically to kick-off their field organizing efforts.

Having a Super PAC run field efforts in Iowa is certainly a peculiar new tactic in this age of unlimited campaign money, but O’Malley’s PAC isn’t the only one. Jeb Bush’s Right to Rise Super PAC was originally tasked with many of the activities an official campaign usually covers – like data collection, polling and the full field operation. When you have another entity that can more easily raise money, you may as well use it to your candidate’s advantage.

For an Iowa Caucus campaign, however, having a field team separate from the official campaign would be very weird to implement. Could field organizers even be present at the candidate’s event to sign people up on commitment cards? Caucus-goers would be potentially meeting with two different sets of staffers for the same candidate. The Super PAC can’t communicate with the official side, so wouldn’t have to also be responsible for turning out on caucus night the people they ID as supporters – because what if they discover people the official campaign doesn’t? Since they can’t share lists, they wouldn’t know, and neither side could (or should) just assume what the other is doing.

Organizing for the caucus is just that – organizing. It’s not like a general election, or even a primary, where you’re pounding on doors to get absentee ballots and running up your vote totals in Democratic-heavy precincts. You have to build grass-roots, volunteer-driven support in every single precinct in the state that can both turn people out on caucus night, and persuade people in the room to join your candidate’s group. That requires building personal relationships between activists and your campaign staff. If there’s two groups doing it, that gets messy. If the Super PAC isn’t doing that, and just focusing on canvassing/persuasion, then how do they funnel good supporters they find to the campaign and turn out supportive caucus-goers they ID?

Avoiding potential coordination will also be tricky. It’s easy to stay separate when a Super PAC is just buying up TV ads, but when you’ve got staffers for both the PAC and official side roaming large events and canvassing in the streets, you’re bound to bump in to each other. They may just require some extra training, though.

All that being said, this strategy may work out pretty well for a candidate like O’Malley who starts with low name ID and could benefit from a large field team knocking on doors to inform people about his stances. O’Malley raised $2 million for this quarter, which is a decent amount even if it’s much smaller than Hillary Clinton’s $47 million or Bernie Sanders’ $15 million. But it may not be enough for a huge, all-out Iowa Caucus staff that could rival Clinton’s already massive operation. So having a well-funded Super PAC come in to spread your name more on the ground could help balance the scale. Having more people out talking about your candidate is always useful.

http://iowastartingline.com/2015/07/16/omalley-super-pac-hiring-iowa-caucus-field-team/

I know he has distanced himself from the "gun nut" ad, has he publicly distanced himself from this new tactic?

...if you have some evidence he's not doing that then spill it.

from the "gun nut" ad and publicly apologize to BLM, so why isn't he publicly distancing himself from the Super PAC's "peculiar new tactic"

Your law argument would apply to the "gun nut" ad too

...he's already spoken out about his opposition to Citizens United which enables the pacs. he doesn't need to speak out just because they hire staff. Save your outrage (concern) for something more important than campaign minutia.

If his anti-CU statement is enough why did he publicly disavow the "gun nut" ad

CU is and will be a major issue in the primaries with HRC and now O'Malley.

But I agree that I preferred the way O'Malley handled it.

Thanks

conducted himself and particularly how he chose to listen, chose to shine the spotlight on black lives matter, and met with people from that group later. I think he gets it that it's of huge importance, that it causes enormous pain, and that pain will not go away until the problems are fixed. Bravo Governor O'Malley.

He gets it, he understands, and he knows how to begin changing things.

When he meet with the people from the group later, it really did show his leadership skills. He handled it very well, and once again showed he is willing to listen to the problems and talk about how to fix things.