O’Malley Announcement Brings Glass-Steagall Front and Center

Much of the major media felt obligated to give prominent coverage to Martin O’Malley’s announcement of his Presidential candidacy Saturday, and some featured his attack on Wall Street and promotion of a return to Glass-Steagall. For example, Newsweek‘s headline was: “Attacking Clinton and Wall Street, O’Malley Launches Presidential Bid.” Its article noted that O’Malley’s reference to the “two royal families,” “drew roars from the young, diverse crowd, one of his biggest applause lines of the day. O’Malley also called for the return of Glass-Steagall, a Depression-era financial law that separated commercial from investment banking. It was repealed in 1999 under Clinton’s husband, then-President Bill Clinton,” Newsweek wrote.

The New York Times‘s news article, although featured prominently, made no mention of Glass-Steagall, even though it took note of his attack on “the bullies of Wall Street.” However, a back-up Times piece on “Martin O’Malley on the Issues” dutifully reports that “he wants to break up the nation’s biggest banks and reinstate a version of the Glass-Steagall Act.”

O’Malley was also featured on one of the Sunday “blab” shows, ABC This Week, with an interview that George Stephanopoulos conducted at his Saturday campaign rally. Although there was no explicit reference to Glass-Steagall, the coverage centered on O’Malley’s blast at Wall Street—”I am not beholden to Wall Street interests”—and his call for an economic revival.

Leading the charge against O’Malley is the London Economist, whose May 30 column “O’Malley flat” makes no mention whatsoever of the hated Glass-Steagall Act, but tries to make a big deal out of how the recent Baltimore riots “have unsettled his ambitions, as has Bernie Sanders entering the race.” It concludes hopefully: “It is doubtful that Mr. O’Malley will make any dent in Mrs. Clinton’s commanding lead.” The same race-baiting line about Baltimore is played widely in other U.S. media, including Time, Associated Press, and National Public Radio.