O’Malley touts executive experience against Clinton

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D), who is mulling a run for president, highlighted his executive experience as something that sets him apart from presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (D) during an interview Monday.

“Well I think that Secretary Clinton and I bring different backgrounds and different experience to the task of getting things done,” he said during an interview with NPR News. “I have been a big city mayor and I have been a governor. In other words, I’ve been an executive and a progressive executive with a record of accomplishments.”

{mosads}“And Secretary Clinton will no doubt have her experience as a legislator and secretary of State to talk about on a number of issues. I think contrasts will become apparent,” he said.

The progressive O’Malley said he and Clinton are able to speak to different types of voters.

“And I think that in addition to the experience difference, I think you just have a perspective difference,” he said. “I see, having spoken to younger people, people under 40, where our country’s headed.”

O’Malley has struggled to gain traction in polls, where Clinton regularly dominates the Democratic field. But some observers think that he could push Clinton on issues that matter to progressive Democrats if he ran.

He has said that he will make his decision whether to run by late May. In the meantime, he has been traveling around the country under the auspices of his political action committee to raise his profile with voters.

O’Malley also suggested that Clinton made decisions about what policies to support based partly on political considerations.

“I’m saying that we govern best as a party and we campaign best as candidates when we campaign and govern from our principles,” he said, when asked what he was trying to say about Clinton when commenting on her decision to change her opinion on same-sex marriage and granting driver’s’ licenses to immigrants in America illegally.