AUGUSTA – Mainers are apt to see a more assertive and cogent chief executive Tuesday evening when Gov. John E. Baldacci delivers his State of the State address highlighting how far Maine has come since he took office three years ago.

Using a largely supportive audience attending the Maine Center For Economic Policy business forum as a sounding board Friday, Baldacci revealed some highlights of his major speech that will be aired live at 7 p.m. Tuesday on Maine Public Broadcasting Corp. television and radio.

Maine’s Democratic governor faces a smorgasbord of potential opponents in November as he makes his bid for a second four-year term and his presentation will be perceived by many as a basis for why he should or should not be re-elected.

Sounding positive themes that reflect triumphs in the face of the confounding obstacles dominating the first six months of his administration, Baldacci will detail how his leadership and determination to reach consensus-based decisions have placed Maine in a better position than it otherwise might have been.

“Maine is the best place and Maine has the best people and working together we’re going to make sure that tomorrow is brighter than today,” Baldacci told the gathering at the Augusta Civic Center. … “I think our day today is better than what it was three years ago.”

To emphasize his point, the governor recalled that upon assuming office on Jan. 8, 2002, he was greeted with news that the state’s largest paper company was on the verge of catastrophe.

“I got a call from Great Northern Paper Co. saying they were declaring bankruptcy in the morning – welcome to the governor’s office, but I like a challenge,” he said.

Within three years, Baldacci’s staff worked to pull three of four paper companies back from the brink, prompting the governor to remark that had he “just gotten one paper company out of bankruptcy and back in operation,” that alone “would have been a huge success story.”

Without specifically blaming Maine’s media or the State House press corps for focusing on negative news stories, the governor did acknowledge that “sometimes we go through things so fast that people don’t have an opportunity to reflect on them and to recognize the accomplishments of what their state has been able to do.”

Citing the administration’s efforts during last year’s Base Realignment and Closure Commission hearings, the governor characterized the retention of two of three major federal defense department installations as “huge accomplishments.”

“They were on the cutting table,” Baldacci said of the bases and administrative offices. “And they actually increased employment at Kittery and Limestone.”

As Mainers face record gasoline and home heating oil prices, Baldacci emphasized his leadership in bringing legislative leaders together to commit to an emergency $5 million contribution to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program during the opening week of this year’s session.

The governor also touted his efforts to obtain a $5.5 million gift of cash for the LIHEAP program from the Venezuelan government and the grass-roots contributions he’s seeking from people across the state for fuel assistance for the poor.

The governor also pointed out how upon assuming office he inherited a $1.2 billion revenue shortfall in the two-year state budget, with no money in the state’s Rainy Day Fund.

Baldacci was referring to the so-called structural gap in the budget that occurs when the anticipated cost of state-approved programs exceeds projected tax revenues over the budget cycle.

“We’ve balanced that budget and people thought the governor must be on drugs because he did it without raising any broad-based sales or income taxes that no one thought we could have done,” Baldacci told the MECEP audience. “But we had to make Maine competitive. We have over $100 million in the Rainy Day Fund now from zero when I took office.”

Pine Tree Economic Development Zones that helped to bring 3,200 jobs to Maine through the T-Mobile company’s expansion in Oakland, more Mainers with health insurance under the governor’s DirigoHealth program and the curtailment of growth in state spending were also highlighted by Baldacci.

If the governor’s speech Friday was any indication, viewers and listeners will likely hear Baldacci sharply confront his critics.

“Anybody that says Maine’s business climate isn’t conducive to business development doesn’t know what they’re talking about or they’re talking about a particular industry which Maine isn’t focusing on,” he said. … “People who say spending is not under control don’t know what the facts are.”

During a brief question-and-answer session at the close of Baldacci’s remarks, a Republican lawmaker rose to challenge the governor’s rosy assessment of the state’s future and the administration’s accomplishments.

Rep. Bradley S. Moulton, R-York, reminded Baldacci that court security was still a critical issue along with Maine’s reputation for paying its judges some of the lowest salaries in the nation. He added that more must be done to reimburse hospitals for services that go unpaid and that Maine has to begin paying its fair share when boarding state prisoners in county jails.

Baldacci said his administration had reached a historic settlement with the hospitals last year stemming from a dispute that was at least 10 years old.

He countered that an independent commission was in charge of evaluating and making recommendations on judicial salaries and that he intends to address security concerns in the courts.

“More work needs to be done but a lot of this was unattended to for a long time,” Baldacci said. “The ship of state doesn’t move on a dime, it take time for it to move. But I believe it has moved in the right direction.”