O’Malley on 2016: US needs to make ‘better choices’

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) in an interview Monday discussed the possibility of running for president in 2016, saying he believed the country needed to make “better choices.”

Asked why he would want to be president, knowing he would likely face a tough race against Hillary Clinton, O’Malley said, “I love my country.”

{mosads}“I believe our country’s best days are still ahead of us, but I believe also that we need to make better choices as a people, choices that actually reflect not only the goodness of who we are but also the better future that we’re all desirous of creating for our kids,” he told Fusion’s Jorge Ramos.

It is unclear if O’Malley’s call for “better choices” was a dig at Clinton, who released her memoir this spring titled Hard Choices.

Polls show Clinton to be the clear Democratic favorite if she enters the 2016 contest. O’Malley has spoken publicly about weighing a run, but speculation remains about whether he would actually enter the race if Clinton also does.

In the interview, O’Malley sidestepped questions about whether he would directly challenge Clinton, saying only that he is “seriously considering running in 2016,” something he has acknowledged before.

O’Malley would not say if he would back Clinton if she entered the race.

Asked if he is writing a book, a common move for a presidential candidate, O’Malley said with a smile, “I’m always writing, Jorge.”

O’Malley has been trying to position himself to the left of Clinton and the president on some issues, notably appearing to criticize the Obama administration’s handling of the border crisis by saying the U.S. should not send young illegal migrants “back to death.”

Still, he is a long shot to beat Clinton. He trailed Clinton by 65 percentage points (67 percent to 2 percent) in a CNN/ORC poll this month.