Martin O'Malley mostly stuck to his policy of keeping his distance from Hillary Clinton's campaign Thursday at the Institute of Politics at Harvard. O'Malley was there to give what his supporters called a detailed economic speech laying out O'Malley's vision for the future.
But there were signs that O'Malley is getting closer to taking Clinton on more directly than he has in the past.
In a press gaggle before the Harvard speech, O'Malley called Clinton out for her recent shift to full support for drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants and support for a national same-sex marriage decision that would remove the choice over same sex marriage recognition from the states. Both moves represented a shift for Clinton from her 2008 campaign, when she initially opposed drivers licenses for the undocumented before changing her mind, and when she opposed same sex marriage as a national policy along with other Democrats in the race.
O'Malley suggested polling has something to do with Clinton's new positions.
"I'm glad Secretary Clinton's come around to the right positions on these issues," O'Malley said, before noting Maryland's move to acknowledge same-sex marriage and allow licenses for undocumented immigrants during his time as governor.
"I believe that we are best as a party when we lead with our principles and not according to the polls. And every election is about the future," O'Malley said. "And leadership is about making the right decision, and the best decision before sometimes it becomes entirely popular."
So, a reporter asked, does Clinton lead by the polls?
"Let me say that I'm glad Secretary Clinton has come around to the right positions on both these issues," O'Malley said. "I believe marriage is a human right, not a state right. I'm glad she's come around to that position as well. I believe that we do our country a disservice when we make it harder for new American immigrants to abide by the rules of the road and obtain drivers licenses. And I'm glad she's come around to that position now too."
O'Malley's Harvard speech was a big play to progressives in the homeland of progressivism's brightest star these days: Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. Channeling many of Warren's agenda items, O'Malley called for a hike in the minimum wage indexed to inflation, boosting access to overtime pay, making it easier for workers to unionize and increased funding for education and research. Tougher financial market regulations and a government unafraid to prosecute Wall Street executives was also on the agenda.
O'Malley also took on President Obama, calling for the president's trade policy to be defeated. The former Maryland governor formally joined the broad coalition of progressive groups condemning White House trade proposals like fast track and the so-called Trans-Pacific Partnership.
"We must stop entering into bad trade deals — bad trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership — that hurt middle class wages and ship middle class jobs overseas," he said. "And we certainly shouldn't be fast tracking failed deals."
O'Malley's response to continued bipartisan pressure to cut the costs of expensive entitlement programs? "Rather than reducing Social Security benefits or privatizing Social Security, we need to expand Social Security benefits," O'Malley said.
After the speech, O'Malley said he'd pay for the expansion by raising the earnings cap on Social Security payroll taxes as well as rely on more money coming into the system after a comprehensive immigration law overhaul that would provide a path to legal status for 11 million undocumented workers.
He made LGBT rights a central part of his economic agenda in the speech. Laws like the Religious Freedom Restoration Act passed in Indiana were the same as racist and sexist rules from the nation's past O'Malley said stifled economic growth. An economy that allows "the grit, the desire, the skill, the love of family, and creative capacity of every person" to flourish is the strongest one possible, O'Malley said.
"'Signs that once read "No Irish Need Apply,' or 'no women,' or 'no blacks,' or 'no Jews' have become sad relics of our past,' O'Malley said. "This is why the next generation of Americans so universally rejects state laws that discriminate against gay and lesbian Americans."