Former Democratic governor takes first 2016 shot at Hillary

Published February 28, 2015 11:10pm ET



Martin O’Malley, former governor of Maryland and potential Democratic presidential candidate, is taking the first shot of the 2016 race at former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, also a potential candidate for the White House.

O’Malley suggested in a speech in South Carolina on Saturday that a Clinton presidency would not “move America forward,” according to the New York Times.

“Triangulation is not a strategy that will move America forward,” O’Malley said in his speech, the Times reported. “History celebrates profiles in courage, not profiles in convenience.”

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Triangulation is a term associated with the political approach of former President Bill Clinton, who is widely viewed as a centrist Democrat who embraced compromise with a Republican-controlled Congress throughout his presidency. The term was coined by former Clinton adviser Dick Morris. In an interview with PBS, Morris described it as “the best [idea] from each position” and “move up to a third way.”

O’Malley has said he is considering a run for the White House, but has declined to assess Clinton as a possible primary opponent in the past.