WASHINGTON – For the first time in a long time, a local leader in a major party appears to be setting up a campaign for president.

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley has given another strong indication that he is considering a 2016 run for the Democratic nomination for president.

It came in a candid conversation with a group of reporters in Milwaukee, where O’Malley is attending a governors conference, according to media reports.

When asked about a possible run, the two-term governor said that by the end of this year he expects to have a body of work that lays the “framework of a candidacy for 2016.”

He noted recent speeches he has made on national policy like climate change and highlighted his political action committee — O’ Say Can You See — which is working to elect what O’Malley called “like-minded candidates.”

The PAC has raised more than $500,000 in the first six months of this year.

Still, O’Malley’s decision could depend on what Hillary Clinton decides to do regarding 2016 presidential bid. The governor supported Clinton’s run in 2008.

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