Is Md. Gov. Martin O’Malley running for president or not?

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27. 'Asked in an interview what he made of Republican governors like Chris Christie

of New Jersey and Scott Walker of Wisconsin getting so much attention for innovations under way in their states, Maryland Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley shot back: “What innovations?”

Then he lit into Gov. Christie, saying he sought the spotlight for reforms, particularly the overhauling of public-sector pension plans, that many other governors had already done in their states.

Both Mr. O’Malley and Mr. Christie are considered likely presidential candidates for 2016.

“Christie, God bless him, I remember…when he was acting as if he was the first governor in the country that had to reconcile this,” Mr. O’Malley said, describing how he had also reined in the Maryland public pension system around the same time.

Mr. O’Malley made the remarks in the lead up to the National Governors Association winter meeting, which will take place over the weekend in Washington.

He mentioned a session at last year’s meeting where Mr. Christie was in attendance.

“He regaled us for 20 minutes at a lunch about how he put on a Superman cape and reformed his pension system,” Mr. O’Malley said. “Everyone has had to do that. He’s done it with a lot of panache and bravado and, some would say, in a very confrontational way, to put it mildly. That’s not what we did, so it got less attention.”'