Dirigo, because we’re on our own

Annually, all 50 governors pronounce the state of their states strong and then describe what they intend to do about it. If you watched Gov. Baldacci’s State of the State address last year, fine as it was, you may have concluded that no matter how fit the state of Maine might be, his speech could have used a strengthening tonic. He tries again Tuesday.

Life could end at any moment, and to squander the time between the present and Doom searching the Web for the speeches of governors of other states seems to be inviting death to drop by early. But were you to find yourself in this position, you would notice that whether the speeches were boring or interesting (hah!), long or short, full of passion or statistics, they usually contained four elements: new programs or funding; good news; examples of adversity overcome; and honored guests who are invited to stand.

By my count, Maine’s governor last year provided 32 examples in the new-programs category, 13 under good news, three who overcame adversity and eight standees. I don’t know how this compares with other governors’ addresses – to keep track of even a small number of them would have practically invited death to drop by for a beer after work. But I am sure he should abandon this model for his speech next week.

Maine doesn’t need it. It doesn’t need a list of what’s on the governor’s calendar for the next couple of years. The size of a land bond, whether the secretary of state has a new motor-voter initiative – save them for a press conference. And Maine may honor and admire those overcomers of adversity, but a separate ceremony some other time would be fine.

Instead, our practical-minded governor on that night should think beyond the practicalities of the day, beyond bills and budgets, details and debates. His State of the State speech should ring through the capitol chambers as bright and guiding as a morning school bell. He should tear up the cardboard-stiff pronouncements, shelve the off-the-shelf observations and forget naming which town weathered which natural calamity. He should describe in 2005 how Maine will live up to its motto, how by 2015 it will be leading, thriving, and what sacrifices will be necessary to carry us there. He should believe and make us believe. I don’t want a speech that describes what programs he’s planning; I want the governor to argue for who we are as a state and what we stand for.

The year 2015 is not just a round ten years from now; it is the 200th anniversary of the time when Maine understood, conclusively, that it must live or die on its own. It was the end of the War of 1812, when the lack of help from Massachusetts for its District of Maine drove leaders of the Maine Democratic Republicans to make the case for statehood as never before. Five years, a bunch of frightened Massachusetts Federalists and one Missouri compromise later, Maine was a state.

Nearly 200 years have passed; Maine rose then settled back to watch much of the rest of the nation prosper. In some ways, Maine has shared in that prosperity, but its vitality and wealth have lately arrived as distant ripples, miles from the original splash. The governor should say in his speech how Maine intends to make a splash.

This is the time to describe it because lawmakers now know Maine lives in changed budgetary circumstances and, therefore, changed policies from where it has been for the last 15 or 20 years. It will live under fiscal restraint, from Washington and by its own hand. It will have spending caps and tax relief even as its health care costs are too high and its higher-education spending too low. It is cutting its budget while its research and development spending is one-fifth what it should be.

You’ve heard the demographics so often the governor won’t need to describe Maine again as a state that is relatively older, sicker, poorer and less well educated than other states. You don’t need to be told that Maine’s problems are foundational; they will not go away if we try to wait them out. The governor, like governors before him, has programs, task forces, initiatives, entire departments working on these issues. He may even have empowered, proactive stakeholders. But he needs the citizens and lawmakers he will address Tuesday to understand the sum of all these parts.

To be clear, a governor’s vision is worth only what he is willing to put behind it. For instance, the King administration once figured that if 30 percent of Mainers had four-year college degrees and the state invested $1,000 in research and development for each worker, in short time opportunities in world-class research and new products and services would attract and retain younger, well-trained people, not just in Portland but statewide. A fine goal. It got talked about a lot; state workers thought deeply about it and the Baldacci administration adopted it. But no leader took on the hard work required to reach those goals; we’re only creeping along behind the national average in both.

Talking about the idea some more would be the stuffing of typical State of the State addresses. Describing with clarity and conviction why this goal – or any one the governor prefers – is essential and offering his commitment to it would be something new. Two hundred years, and Maine is still learning that it has no one else to rely on but itself.

Todd Benoit is the editorial page editor of the Bangor Daily News.