16: O'Malley en horario de máxima audiencia

POLITICO habló con el Gobernador Martin O'Malley, de Maryland, en el backstage después de su discurso. Describió lo que se siente al pronunciar por primera vez un discurso en el prime-time de una convención nacional, y esquivó la inevitable pregunta sobre sus planes para 2016: "¡Dame un respiro!"

O'Malley, probablemente el demócrata que hasta ahora más abiertamente se está posicionando para dar el salto a las presidenciales dentro de cuatro años, habló entre las 9:55 y las 10:05, un horario privilegiado por el que muchos matarían. Fue su primera aparición ante una gran audiencia nacional para la que sigue siendo un desconocido.

Pero no ha recibido buenas críticas en The Baltimore Sun, el periódico más importante de su estado, que cree que desaprovechó la ocasión actuando más como un cheerleader que como un auténtico líder.

It was too big and felt far too artificial and gimmicky for the intimacy of TV.

By too big, I mean, in the gestures and expressions and movements of O'Malley. At times he almost seemed to mugging -- like a bad actor over-gesturing to make sure the people in the last row of the balcony could see his eyebrows move.

Only on TV, the camera is right in your face, and when you forget that and over-emote, you look either phony or silly no matter how real or substantial your words might be.
Only in O'Malley's case, the words were not very good either. The biggest mistake was trying to engage the audience in a call and answer chant/cheer: "President Obama is moving America forward, not back." Making it seem hokier was the fact that some in the audience had signs that read either "moving forward" or "not back" that they held up as he led them in the refrain.

Those potions of the speech felt staged, artificial and more like something suited to a high school rally than the stage of a national convention where several powerful and moving speeches had already been sounded Tuesday. Worst of all, it made O'Malley seem more like a cheerleader than the leader of the Democratic governors and a top contender for president in 2016. O'Malley has substance and smarts and all the tools to be great on TV, but that isn't what came through on the tube Tuesday night.