Like every other major Republican and Democratic presidential candidate still in the mix, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley hopped aboard the Oregon shooting train for political gain. These brief splashes were enough to garner some attention from the mainstream media. However, as J.D. Durkin argues, O’Malley is “caught in the wrong multiverse.” In other words, nobody cares.
At least, that was before this smoking-hot Snapchat video of the ex-Baltimore mayor started making the rounds on Tuesday.
Okay, I lied. It’s not that hot, but the video is still a fun, alternative, grainy look at O’Malley in action. The footage comes from a gym in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he’s busily preparing for next week’s CNN debate. Snapchat’s head of new, Peter Hamby tweeted out a screenshot of the Democratic candidate’s workout routine as part of a “Campaign story”:
Yes that’s @MartinOMalley planking and reading his iPad in our Campaign story today pic.twitter.com/m5trJAnJQj
— Peter Hamby (@PeterHamby) October 6, 2015
So “O’Malley Hits the Gym” is the basic gist of this story, which visually cues a single question and answer anyone watching can automatically discern.
Reporter: Mr. O’Malley, how are you going to prepare for next week’s CNN debate? Mr. O’Malley: Plank for varying reps and read Debbie Wasserman-Schultz‘s latest Facebook post.
Hamby’s Twitter followers, campaign staffers and fellow journalists were quick to have some fun at O’Malley’s (and his) expense:
Hips are little high… https://t.co/KazkaaMBdZ — Tim Mak (@timkmak) October 6, 2015
@PeterHamby @MartinOMalley no more please.
— Tim Miller (@Timodc) October 6, 2015
@PeterHamby @MartinOMalley this is the first time a snapchat has given me a hot flash — Peter W. Kaplan (@walkerkaplan) October 6, 2015
Yet no one thought to ask what O’Malley was actually reading on his iPad. Of all the things that might be on that screen, what might the candidate be reading in this Snapshat? Possibilities include:
- Bernie Sanders‘ 1972 essay “Man and Woman” from the Vermont Freeman alternative newspaper.
- All the juicy emails acquired by Gawker from ex Hillary Clinton aide Philippe Reines.
- Ben Carson‘s latest answers to questions from his Facebook followers.
- Donald Trump‘s Twitter feed.
- An advanced copy of George R.R. Martin‘s The Winds of Winter, so as to keep up for his announced Game of Thrones tie-in.
- The 50th anniversary edition of The Amy Vanderbilt Complete Book of Etiquette for, um, future interview reference.
- A basic Adobe Photoshop guide, so that he can undo all of the inevitable, horrible damage Reddit’s /r/photoshopbattles forum is going to do to this photo.
- The stopwatch app that comes standard with iOS 9. (Need to time those plank reps somehow.)
[Image via screengrab]
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