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Why Democratic candidates risk Martin O’Malley’s fate

Anyone heard anything about Martin O’Malley lately? Four years ago, he was busy out in Iowa running for president. After two successful terms as mayor of Baltimore (homicides fell during his years) and as governor of Maryland, he seemed like a plausible candidate. Strumming his guitar and singing Irish songs, he seemed more likable than either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. Yet as a candidate, like most of the Democratic candidates running this year, he got just about zero support. In the Iowa caucuses, he won just 0.54 percent of “state convention delegate equivalents” ...

Puppy love helps tired parents

Dear Annie: I had to respond to the letter, “Sleepless in Los Angeles,” about the 6-year-old who insisted that her parents sleep with her. My husband and I had a similar problem. I was a nurse and worked on the swing shift, which meant I did not get home till 11:30 at night. Dad had to feed our four kids and see that they had their baths and got to bed. Well, the youngest, 6 years old, decided she was afraid to stay in the bathroom by herself to take a bath. Dad thought long and hard how to deal with this and he came up with a plan that worked out great for all concerned. He would ...

Put on your oxygen mask first

Dear Annie: My stepfather loves to volunteer for community work. He spends almost all of his free time working booths, going to meetings, serving at soup kitchens and generally helping in many ways. But it leaves the house chores to my mom. My brother and I help when we can, but we’re also swamped with school and work. My mom works, too, and I can see that she’s torn about my dad’s involvement. She supports him because she understands his needs, but she is completely overwhelmed with cooking, cleaning, organizing and yard work. I can see that she is starting to resent my stepdad ...

Biden’s best bet is a front porch campaign

Here’s an idea: Joe Biden should run a front porch campaig Front porch campaigns were once a common feature of American presidential politics, though the term wasn’t always applied to the practice. The most famous front porch campaigns were in the 1880s and 1890s, culminating in William McKinley’s successful bid in 1896. While populist Democrat William Jennings Bryan crisscrossed the nation, giving speeches from any soapbox he could fine, McKinley largely stayed home and campaigned from his front porch, where the national media had set up camp. McKinley spent more money — on ...

Unlearning enabling behavior

Dear Annie: My mother has been a bad drug addict for most of my life. Ive gotten used to taking care of her, but something happened. My sister followed in her footsteps. She moved away and is badly addicted to multiple drugs. My family has tried to get her to come home, but she makes excuses every time. I’m in a lot of pain, more pain than my mother caused me (which is saying a lot). Every time I talk to her, she gets really hostile. I don’t know whether to cut her off or to keep trying to convince her to come home. What is your advice? — Worried About the Well-Being of my ...

A ‘lost’ generation?

There are people in every generation who believe the generation following theirs is either going to the dogs or will ruin the country. A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll lends credence to that way of thinking, especially where Generation Z/millennials (those born in the mid-1990s to mid-2000s) and Generation X (those born in the early-to-mid 1960s to the early 1980s) are concerned. The poll of 1,000 adults earlier this month found that “younger generations rate patriotism, religion and having children as less important to them than did young people two decades ago.” The ...