Martin O’Malley: 'I Intend to Win' Democratic Presidential Race
"I kind of like tough fights," former Maryland governor says.
— -- Despite his lackluster showing the polls so far, Martin O'Malley said today that he is in the Democratic presidential nomination race to win it.
"I intend to win," the former Maryland governor and presidential candidate told delegates at the New Hampshire State Democratic Party convention.
"I kind of like tough fights," he continued. "Maybe the toughness of the fight is how the hidden God lets us know we are fighting for something worth saving."
O'Malley is polling at around 2 percent nationwide among Democratic leaning voters, according to the most recent ABC/Washington Post Poll. In New Hampshire, one WMUR and NPR poll from earlier this month had him at just 1 percent in the state.
Asked how exactly he planned to break through these single digits in the polls, O'Malley answered simply that he was "going to keep on going." He said he would continue campaigning as he has been: "One living room at a time.”
On the trail O'Malley talks often about his executive experience as a mayor and governor, promising progressive results not just rhetoric. He is quick to list his major accomplishments in the state, including passing a state version of the DREAM Act and tougher gun control. But so far, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has emerged as the dominant choice for the progressive wing of the party.
The New Hampshire primary is four and half months away, but O'Malley spoke confidently that there was still time.
"It's my sense both here and Iowa, that after Labor Day people's attention really shifts and [voters] are only now focusing in," he said.
This was O'Malley's seventh trip to New Hampshire since announcing.