O’Malley tries to gain post-debate traction.

HOPKINTON — Standing before a few dozen people in the cozy town hall here Sunday morning, Martin O’Malley, the former Maryland governor, smiled, joked and asked audience members for their names.

As the question-and-answer session began, he took off his suit jacket. Rolled up his shirtsleeves. Loosened his tie. It was, in short, the kind of quintessential town hall etched in the American imagination of the New Hampshire primary.

Yet O’Malley, who was fresh off the debate stage Saturday night at St. Anselm College, has struggled to gain traction in the Democratic race. O’Malley told crowds Sunday that his window of opportunity may just be opening up as more voters tune into the race after the holidays.

Speaking to reporters in Hopkinton, he criticized former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, calling out their records on gun control and Clinton’s focus on the general election during the debate.

“Her campaigns have most often been characterized by a sense of entitlement,” he said.

O’Malley also reiterated a frequent frustration with the Democratic National Committee’s scheduling of debates and what he called a clear bias toward Clinton. “The Democratic Party’s acting in an undemocratic way,” he said.

During the town hall, O’Malley mostly stayed focused on the issues, leaning heavily on his record in Maryland as proof he could govern effectively in Washington.

He outlined a history of stricter gun control, immigration reform, transit improvements, education changes and other issues.

He said in the wake of recent terror attacks in San Bernardino, Calif., and around the world, the country faces the danger of politicians wielding fear to turn Americans inward.

“We need only return to our true selves,” he said, “and remember that our economy is not money; it’s people.”

Afterward, Nan McNicholas said the most important issues to her were reforming Wall Street and helping refugees. She was leaning toward Sanders, but O’Malley had impressed her. “He’s very appealing,” she said. “He’s open. He’s willing to try new things, and he listens.”

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