governor chaffee and senator webb will also be there-

For Martin O’Malley, first Democratic debate means time to put up or shut up

Martin O'Malley speaks at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute conference in Washington on Oct. 7. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)
By John Wagner October 11 at 7:23 PM
After complaining loudly for months about the scarcity of Democratic debates, former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley faces a put-up-or-shut-up moment Tuesday.

The presidential hopeful will take the debate stage in Las Vegas with one overriding objective: proving that he is a credible alternative to the two leading contenders for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.

When he launched his campaign in May, O’Malley fashioned himself as a more progressive alternative to Hillary Rodham Clinton — a space that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has since occupied with a gusto that no one anticipated.

“I think right now most people in the Democratic Party think they only have two choices,” O’Malley acknowledged during an interview. He said the party’s debates would be “make-or-break moments for every campaign,” including his.

[Debate, Benghazi, Biden decision: much at stake for Clinton in October]

Martin O'Malley speaks to members of the media at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute conference in Washington on Oct. 7. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)
Associates say that O’Malley, who lags far behind Clinton and Sanders in the polls, has been huddling with campaign aides and longtime advisers to prepare for a two-hour debate on CNN in which he will present himself as a progressive with a record of getting things done during his tenures as Maryland’s governor and Baltimore’s mayor.

Two other Democratic candidates — former U.S. senator Jim Webb of Virginia and former Rhode Island governor and U.S. senator Lincoln Chafee — will also share the stage.

Analysts say that O’Malley needs to have a standout performance and make the case that he would be more electable in November 2016 than either Clinton, whose trust among voters has been eroded by continuing questions about her e-mail practices as secretary of state, and Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist whose views may be too far to the left for general-election voters.