O’Malley provides detailed solutions at Uncle Nancy’s

“Is a dream a lie if it don’t come true, or is it something worse?”

That’s the Bruce Springsteen quote Martin O’Malley mentioned Friday during his campaign appearance at Uncle Nancy’s Coffeehouse & Eatery. He was referring to how tough it has become to pursue the American dream — one of many topics during his talk and question-and-answer session.

O’Malley, who recently completed his second and final term as Maryland governor, is spending much of his time in Iowa. Thursday, he spoke and played guitar and sang to a gathering in Waukee, and he began Friday with a tour of the DMACC wind turbines in Des Moines.

The 2016 Democratic presidential hopeful made Uncle Nancy’s his second stop of the day, heading on to Waterloo on Friday afternoon. He as introduced by newly elected Jasper County Democrat chair Taylor Van De Krol and State Rep. Dan Kelley. O’Malley, who has his son, William, with him on this leg of his campaign, said he plans to spend as much time as he can in as many of Iowa’s 99 counties as he can leading up to the Feb. 1 caucus.

In his 18-minute talk to the Newton crowd of approximately 90 people — made while standing on a chair — O’Malley focused on breaking negative government patterns and starting positive trends. He mentioned a couple of Republicans by name, but didn’t talk about fellow Democrats Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders at all.

O’Malley served as mayor of Baltimore before winning the governor’s seat in Maryland, and he spoke about progress made with drug abuse and poverty in that city.

“There’s a big difference between saying what we stand for, and actually accomplishing things,” O’Malley said. “I’m the only Democratic candidate with 15 years of executive experience. To get things done, you have to bring people together. The more fully all of us are involved in the political, social and economic life of our county, state or our country, the better each of us does.”

O’Malley seemed very cognizant of the veterans affairs and union concerns of his audience, but he also touched on the views shared by most Democrats. He reiterated a common Democratic theme about too much wealth being in the hands of a few, along with a dark reminder about world history.

“Whenever a country reaches this point in her history, there are only two paths forward,” he said. “One of them is a sensible balance based on a common good that we share, and the other is pitchforks, or rocks or stones — in the hands of angry, unemployed men and women who feel like they’re worth less than they were 10 years ago. Economies are not money; they are people.”

O’Malley took questions from the audience about a variety of topics, ranging from college debt to Alzheimer’s care to veterans and military issues.

“ISIS is going to be a long haul,” O’Malley said. “There’s no simple answer there, but I think one thing we’ve concluded is that boots on the ground tends to make things worse, not better.”

O’Malley said there is an income-based college loan repayment program, not known to many, that he would like to see instituted as “the norm.” He’d like to see college students debt-free within eight years.

The former Maryland governor said he’d like to see the U.S. medical and research communities “pick a few” major diseases, and work on cures, and he has a goal of 100 percent renewable energy by 2050.

Regarding veterans affairs, O’Malley said he wants to see less concern about procedures and confidentiality and more focus on treatment.

“Oftentimes, when a bureaucracy brings up objections about privacy, they’re really just trying to cover their own ineffectiveness in taking responsibility,” O’Malley said.

After addressing questions, O’Malley told the Newton Daily News that public campaign financing is essential to getting big money out of Washington, D.C., as elected officials have been turned into “telemarketers, spending 18-20 hours on the phone each week raising money.”

O’Malley said if anyone wants to see where America is headed they can simply talk to young people.

“You won’t find many people under 40 denying climate change,” O’Malley said. “You won’t find many who bash immigrants and you won’t find many young people — Democrats, Republicans or independents — who want to discriminate against gay couples. Our country is moving toward more connectedness.”

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com