“I don’t think he’s worried about who’s in or who’s out,” said Joe Trippi, a Democratic strategist who first met O’Malley during the 1984 presidential race. Trippi worked for the Walter Mondale campaign, and O’Malley for Gary Hart.
“That makes him more aggressive than others and a lot more open, because he’s not looking over his shoulder thinking about who is and who isn’t,” Trippi said. “He’s building the national infrastructure and fundraising. He’s been doing this methodically and building it without any regard for who else runs.”…
Aides have suggested O’Malley is unlikely to run if Clinton gets in the race. But people close to the governor say that, until that happens, he’s going for it…
“I think people are going to be surprised at the amount of time he does this,” Adamec said. “He’s got a powerful record of what he’s done in Baltimore and Maryland. I think it’s a liberating experience for him to just sort of say it.”
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