Governor Martin O'Malley visits Dedham

On a warm fall day in the middle of the 19th century, a young Congressman from the western reaches of the United States arrived in Dedham Square. After a marching band and a delegation of local Whigs paraded and cheered him through town, they eventually arrived at Temperance Hall. The speech he gave there so beguiled the crowd that they were still writing and speaking of his visit a half century later. Today, we remember that Congressman as one of the greatest presidents in all of American history, Abraham Lincoln.

When scholars look back at the history of Dedham in another 150 years time, they will mark June 30, 2015 right alongside that of September 20, 1848. It was on this date that another future President of the United States, Martin O’Malley of Maryland, came to visit Dedham and spoke before a crowd equally as enraptured.

Minds and checkbooks alike were opened that evening as several prominent citizens of the town and Commonwealth heard Governor O’Malley’s message of justice, prosperity, and building up the middle class both here at home and around the world. There was a Kennedy-esque quality to Governor O’Malley, and this was never more true than when he spoke of rebuilding the American dream for all Americans, no matter their station or condition.

Wages have been stagnant for middle class Americans since the 1970s, while those at the very top have continued to amass wealth like something out of a Fitzgerald novel. To ensure that the patterns of the last decades do not continue, we need new leadership and new ideas, not more of the same. Just as you can not put new wine into old wineskins, we can not continue to elect the same people and expect different results.

Two families have dominated presidential elections for the last generation. This time around we may find ourselves with two more people with the same name on the ballot, or perhaps a septuagenarian socialist. Governor Martin O’Malley provides a real alternative and deserves a closer look by all those who care about the future of our country.

As the guest of John and Diddy Cullinane at the Dedham Country and Polo Club, Governor O’Malley’s remarks were as energetic as they were sincere. With features like these, one could not help but contrast the former mayor and governor to his two opponents for the Democratic nomination.

Governor O’Malley was already on his third speaking engagement of the day by the time he made it to the shiretown, but his passion and vigor never wavered. The real reason he was received so well when he spoke in Dedham, however, is the same reason he has been gaining in polls around the nation: Governor O’Malley’s values are our values.

There are many months to go before the first ballot will be cast. The C.E.O. of Goldman Sachs has said he would be fine with either another Clinton or Bush in Washington. Most Americans, like most Dedhamites, are more concerned about making a mortgage payment and putting a child through college than they are about whether or not Wall Street financiers make their next quarterly bonus, however.

For them, and for all of us, the choice is clear. The values Governor Martin J. O’Malley shares with us, and the values he will bring to the White House, will improve the quality of life for everyday Americans. He deserves our support.