Martin O'Malley fails to convince single Iowan who showed up to campaign event

Even shirtless pics of the Democratic presidential hopeful don't seemed to have improved his poll ratings

Martin O'Malley (Reuters)

Iowa state residents weren’t the only ones who took a beating from a massive snowstorm sweeping the Midwestern United States — so too, it seems, did the flailing campaign of Democratic presidential hopeful Martin O’Malley.

The former Maryland governor was the only presidential candidate to not cancel his appearances amid inclement weather Monday, and at his final stop of the day, he met with only one potential voter — who remains undecided, NBC News reported.

"We actually had a whopping total of one person show up. But, by God, he was glad to see me," Mr O'Malley told NBC of his last stop in Tama, Iowa.

But it appears that voter, whom Mr O'Malley did not name in his interview, wasn’t glad enough to be swayed by what ended up a private audience with the White House contender. “I wasn’t surprised that he was uncommitted, but I was glad that he came out to see me,” Mr O'Malley said.

A November report from pollsters at Public Policy Polling showed Mr O’Malley with a meager 7 per cent against his party’s frontrunner, Hillary Clinton, who garnered 59 per cent of those surveyed. Bernie Sanders came in second with 26 per cent.

Mr O’Malley’s ratings remained in the single digits despite a popular post from news site Buzzfeed in October entitled, “We need to talk about Martin O’Malley” that featured shirtless photographs of what seemed like a physically fit potential so-called leader of the free world.

Mr O'Malley at a 2012 charity event. (Maryland GovPics/Flickr)

The photos of the then-governor of Maryland show him at the 2012 MSP Polar Bear Plunge, a fundraiser for the Special Olympics held at the Sandy Point State Park in his home state.

Mr O'Malley diving at a charity event. (Maryland GovPics/Flicker)

At other campaign events in Iowa, Mr O’Malley reportedly showed support for the push to welcome Syrian refugees.

"(Our work) means never slamming our door on refugees who are fleeing genocide and death," local newspaper the Iowa Press-Citizen quoted Mr O’Malley as saying.