U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., holds a cheesehead hat with a drawing of Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad on the top while presenting to Branstad during the Iowa governor's birthday bash and fundraiser, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2013, in Altoona, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., speaks during Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad's birthday bash and fundraiser, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2013, in Altoona, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) ALTOONA, Iowa (AP) - Governors get things done. In events Saturday evening in two important early voting states, Gov. Martin O'Malley, D-Md., was trying to highlight that contrast and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., was trying to fight that image of the nation's capital. "We've got to show America we're not just the opposition party, we're the proposition party," Ryan said, suggesting an approach for his party in Congress to an audience at Republican Gov. Terry Branstad's annual birthday fundraiser outside of Des Moines. Courting voters at a party dinner in New Hampshire at almost the same time, home of the leadoff primary, O'Malley promoted himself as a can-do governor and former Baltimore mayor. We took action. We started making things work," he told a room packed with roughly 1,000 Democrats gathered in Manchester, New Hampshire's largest city. Enough finger-pointing. Enough obstruction. Enough wasted time," O'Malley continued, criticizing a political environment with "a lot more excuses and ideology than cooperation or action." At about the same time Saturday, Ryan, the 2012 Republican nominee for vice president, was in Iowa headlining a fundraiser for Branstad. But Branstad has praised Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee who was the Republicans' vice presidential nominee, as savvy and hard-working. "It's obvious we have a common-sense statesman from a neighboring state that's really trying to do the right thing," Branstad told roughly 800 Republican stalwarts. Last month, days after the partial government shutdown ended in Washington, Branstad introduced U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, as "a bright up-and-coming senator" before launching into an harsh criticism of the federal government and promotion of the accomplishments of governors in Texas, Wisconsin, Ohio and Michigan. In each of those states, Republicans also control the legislature. Ryan was making his first appearance in Iowa since Romney failed to carry the state in the presidential election last year. It was also his first trip to the early-voting state as someone considering a candidacy for president in 2016, and he hinted he'd be back. "Maybe we should come back and do this more often," he said. While the audience in the packed ballroom dined on barbecued pork and fried chicken, Ryan repeatedly praised Branstad for enacting tax cuts this year with a politically divided legislature. "And that is an example people in Washington could learn from," Ryan said. Back in New Hampshire, the state's Democratic Party chairman noted that presidential primary voters on both sides "have an inclination to support governors" over members of Congress. "Being a governor of a mid-sized state is not a bad place to start when it comes to New Hampshire," Ray Buckley said of O'Malley. On the Republican sideGov. Bobby Jindal, R-La., hasn't ruled out running. Peoples reported from Manchester, N.H.