O'Malley Empasizes Contrast Between Obama and Romney in DNC Speech

When asked on a talk show this past weekend if he thought Americans were better off now than they were four years ago, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley responded in the negative, but with qualification. His answer launched a flurry of responses from former Massachusetts Gov, Mitt Romney’s campaign team that implied that even members of Barack Obama’s own party were not convinced he deserved to be re-elected.  

But, on Tuesday night in Charlotte, where he was one of the featured speakers on the first night of the Democratic National Convention, O’Malley put to rest any notion that he was not in full support of Obama.

After a brief reminder of Maryland’s role in United States history, O’Malley launched into an explanation of Obama’s accomplishments versus Romney’s proposals.

As both major parties make their arguments to voters about whom is better-suited to create jobs during an economic downturn, the government or the private sector, state Democratic Party Executive Director David Sloan said it’s clearly the former, and that O’Malley was the perfect person to state the case.

“When the government invests in jobs it makes a society stronger. We’ve seen that time and again in Maryland,” Sloan said.

Council 67 Executive Director Glen Middleton echoed Sloan’s point and noted how the Republicans’ platform for rebuilding the economy is driven by the Tea Party.

“The president will benefit when Americans see that Romney has adopted many of the views of the Tea Party,” Middleton said. “They’re anti-jobs. They’re against everything that’s good about this country.”

“The (GOP’s) slogan is to take the country back, when we need to move forward, as Gov. O’Malley said in his speech, Middleton said.

Sloan said Maryland delegates will continue to register voters in neighboring states of Virginia and Pennsylvania where polls show the race between Obama and Romney much tighter than it is in Maryland, where the president has a solid lead.