The Thrilla in Owings Milla

The incumbent appears on edge from the beginning--his posture almost prehistoric; his hands constantly moving from praying to waving frantically; he’s unsure as to whether he should speak to the camera (and therefore the people) or the moderator; his suit rolls up tight on his shoulders pulling the sleeves to his elbows and exposing multiple 'charity bracelets'; and finally he gestures with an open hand toward his challenger; who deftly looks offstage as though there’s something there that requires his attention--like an Ali rope-a-dope he moves away from the image-based rhetorical challenge of his opponent...

AND so goes the first 20 seconds of Maryland’s “not so live” 2006gubernatorial debate.

After watching, recording and reviewing the debate several times, I drew the simple conclusion that these were two different characters—or at the very least, two different characters for the moment. Ehrlich admitted he did not prepare and brought the unscripted swagger and off-the-cuff demeanor that carried him throughout his term. While this was a demeanor that may have played well on his home ‘turf’, it probably failed with the objective viewer who was looking for forensics or facts---versus Aristotle's Epideictic or Ceremonial rhetoric. Instead of laying out the plan for the next term of his Administration, Ehrlich jeered, veered and cheered the viewers into sticking with him. He was and is very good at this role and depending on your expectations, he was at his best.

Conversely, O’Malley was well-scripted, fully-prepared and frighteningly ‘wired’ at times. It was as though someone wound him up and sat him in the chair; then hit the on-switch. However, in the end, and when he moved himself to the position of informed-aggressor, O’Malley would have realized great gains in the hearts and minds of the objective voter---had the events received extensive TV coverage. He was clearly the better-prepared of the two candidates; and his command of the data, facts and issues (forensics) o overcame the pathos-style of Ehrlich.

In the end, no one could have missed the sharp contrast between the two participants and while it wasn't the “Thrill in Manila” it was truly worthwhile if only for the purpose of gleaning data on the finer points of rhetorical image and word analysis.