TOMMY CARCETTI AS MARTIN O'MALLEY
By TJ Gosse

One of Martin O’Malley’s big claims to fame is being the inspiration behind the HBO hit television series The Wire. The storyline of this character, Tommy Carcetti, is virtually identical to O’Malley’s career. The character was a Maryland councilman, turned Mayor, who eventually becomes the governor of Maryland by the end of the series. This connection has been made in several different publications from Entertainment Weekly to the Economist. Even the Washington Post has made the reference.

One of the most interesting articles I read in regards to one of O’Malley’s representations in the media is from the Telegraph. This was an opinion piece with a lot of interesting information about O’Malley and what he will have to do in order to become president. The article was posted online on April 4th 2015 by Peter Foster. He argues that if O’Malley decides to run, he will have to separate himself from this character in The Wire. Although it is only a fictional television show, this is harder to differentiate than if a candidate were to go on Saturday Night Live. In O’Malley’s case, the facts are mixed with fiction by HBO in order to make an interesting TV plot. The actor also looks very similar to O’Malley, which makes it even more difficult to distance himself from this image. In The Wire, O’Malley’s character (Tommy Carcetti) is a crime focused mayor in a primarily African-American city. Their story lines are almost identical. He continues to plot against crime and drugs (a big problem that O’Malley faced during his first year in Baltimore) in the 1990’s. His character also helped rebuild and reunite the city. A lot of people also make this correlation because the series was airing during his time in office in Maryland. Although the show describes O’Malley in a positive light, in many ways it also pushes back the image that he would like to portray.

While Tommy Carcetti is a good politician, O’Malley needs to get away from this for a couple different reasons. One is that at times the series painted a picture of immoral politicians and cynical police enforcement. Especially in a time when police enforcement is a major issue, O’Malley will have to separate himself from this stigma that may have been put on him. Another issue is that the character cheats on his wife. O’Malley has depicted himself as a traditional family man who can be trusted and has a strong grip on his core values. Although he is portrayed as a tough, well-liked leader, this infidelity would be a huge deal breaker to many voters.

Overall, I think O’Malley will be able to shake this image while keeping the positive aspects of it. At the end of the day, he was the inspiration for a fictional TV show which I think a lot of people think is really cool. Smart voters understand that it is a TV show and they exaggerate a lot so I think he can definitely overcome these roadblocks. I think it shapes his image of being a gritty, tough guy but he will have to continue to push his political beliefs if he wants to differentiate himself.

For more:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/us-politics/11512181/Martin-OMalley-If-not-Hillary-Clinton-then-how-about-this-guy.html 

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/05/09/martin-o-malley-tommy-carcetti-and-2016.html 

http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/is-it-time-to-take-martin-o-malley-seriously-20130620