Appearing on MSNBC's Morning Joe a few hours ago, Gov. Martin O'Malley presented himself as a chief executive who can make deep cuts without causing a meltdown in relations between the government and unions.
He contrasted his style with Republican governors in Wisconsin and New Jersey who've aggravated public employee unions and slashed education funding. O'Malley's message: Democrats know how to balance a budget without starting a war.
"Education gets hit much harder" in states with Republican governors, O'Malley said.
Since becoming the head of the Democratic Governors Association last December, O'Malley has sought to raise his national profile, picking fights with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and conservative "tea partiers" at Democratic events in Virginia and New Jersey. He faced criticism for spending too much time on his new national job during the legislative session -- now that it is over many predict that he'll step up those appearances.
During his TV slot this morning, O'Malley hit many of the same themes Marylanders have been hearing for years. The governor had to "make tough choices" in order to "move the state forward." Tuition at the state's university system remained frozen for four years in a row, he said. (He did not mention that it went up by three percent this year and will rise by that amount again next year.)
It remains to be seen how effectively O'Malley can nationalize his message. Maryland has never had the deep budget problems faced by states like Illinois, California and New York. That's in part because the state's economy is bolstered by steady federal government jobs and the recession didn't hit as hard here.