Martin O’Malley would like some pens, if you have any lying around.

Articles about O’Malley’s struggle to connect with voters have become something of an art form. Following on the heels of “One guy showed up to an O’Malley event in Iowa, and he still isn’t sure about O’Malley” is Jennifer Bendery’s “Martin O’Malley’s Saturday Night In Iowa Was Kind Of Depressing.”

Bendery visited a campaign rally at O’Malley’s headquarters in Des Moines and met some people who loved O’Malley ... but wouldn’t be voting for him:

“I’m a huge fan of O’Malley,” said Elizabeth Mitchell, who drove to Des Moines with her husband, Gene. But they live in Chicago and only came to Iowa to check out the scene. And they’re not voting for O’Malley anyway. They’re for Clinton.

“If it were basically anybody other than her that was running against O’Malley, I’d be supporting him,” [said Elizabeth.]

“Yeah, O’Malley is our second choice,” Gene said. “Hillary is first.”

But this depressing exchange pales before the most depressing element of Bendery’s story, this photo of O’Malley’s campaign wishlist:

It would be nice to check off the “Victory in Iowa” box, but the O’Malley campaign might be getting ahead of itself—better to take care of the pens first.