RealClearPolitics caught up with Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley at the 2011 National Governors Association Winter Meeting in Washington.

RCP: The 29 Republican governors are developing a group identity as vocal budget cutters, especially after the recent election. Can you describe the group identity of the Democratic governors, and where that is headed?

O'Malley: All of us are focused on jobs, opportunity and making the tough choices necessary to move our states ahead of this recession.

There's two dynamics going on in the other camp - actually there are several.

One is the run-up to their presidential nomination. They don't have a presidential candidate; we do. So the jockeying and the personalities get very much elevated on their side. The other dynamic they have is the sort of union-bashing detour that some of their governors chose to take at a time when people want us to be bringing people together to figure out how we can drive innovation, how we can create jobs, how we can be winners in global trade, and not losers.

We can't really control what they do or what they don't do, but we can, as a group, stay focused on job No. 1, which is creating jobs and moving our economy forward, and that's what we've done. And we're doing it as a group much better than they ever have this weekend.

This is the first time we ever met in advance of the NGA weekend rather than playing catch-up at the end of it. And I think you'll see from this DGA a continued focus on job creation, the economy, partnering with CEOs to figure out how we can harness innovation. And that's really the common intersection with Democratic governors and business leaders in our country, is the belief that innovation is the key.

RCP: Who are the Democratic governors to watch?

O'Malley: I think among the new ones [John] Hickenlooper in Colorado is a very entrepreneurial, non-ideological, pragmatic former mayor who speaks with clarity, believes in delivering results and managing for results.

And I think in that same vein, Dannel Malloy, the new governor of Connecticut, is managing for results, sort of CEO-type of executive. He's not ideological -- he's pragmatic, and that's the way he was in the Conference of Mayors when I worked with him there.

[Peter] Shumlin, in Vermont, who has a business background, speaks with clarity as a business owner, a CEO.

I think those are a few of our new ones who I think are good people to watch.

[North Carolina Gov.] Beverly Perdue, and her leadership of the Southern Governors Association and their focus on innovation, and her state and the transformation that it is going through with her leadership in harnessing life science and biotech and innovation to transform a Southern state economy and diversify.

I think all of those are very capable solid leaders. I mean, none of them have this stand-up routine that [New Jersey Gov.] Chris Christie pulls off. Christie has the best stand-up routine in the RGA, but I think most people, when they vote for governor, are hoping for a man or woman that will bring people together to create jobs and move their state ahead of the recession.

RCP: Who are some of your favorite Democratic gubernatorial candidates to watch in the next two years?

O'Malley: We have four races this year, and then 11 races in '12.

Jack Markell is a real good executive; he's up that year. He was our immediate past chair. He's up in Delaware.

Bev Perdue, our vice chair, is up that year.

Brian Schweizter's retiring in Montana - all of the recruitment process is still under way in all of these. Just as the political landscape changed pretty dramatically from two years, I think it will be just as dramatically changed two years from now.

And I do think it's a time when all of the old, traditional ways of looking at the world might not apply. In other words, if candidates emerge in either party who can articulate a concept for winning this ill-economy, for making it ours, and can articulate that in a compelling way and with principle and with conviction and with a compelling story, I think that any race is potentially up for grabs, regardless of party

RCP: Who do you see on the Democratic Party's national bench for several years down the road?

O'Malley: We have a lot of great leaders in the Democratic Party, and I think that these next two years now that the recovery and reinvestment dollars aren't there will be a time when voters are going to be able to see very clearly whether their governors can govern, whether their governors can balance budgets and move their states forward. And a lot of these men and women aren't going to be able to do it.

You've seen it play out in so many ways. It's hard to make your government work and manage it properly, if you believe your government's the enemy and your government's the problem.

Some of these antique FDR haters just aren't going to serve their states very well now that the recovery dollars are no longer there to support important state functions, and I think it's going to lay bare a lot of these sort of stand-up comic routines that have been masquerading as good governance.

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