It's time to govern
If the title weren't already taken, Governor Deval Patrick's State of the State speech last night might have been dubbed "The Audacity of Hope."
Hopeful is certainly the word for a governor who, standing in the face of a huge deficit and flat revenues, builds his agenda around the perils of refusing to spend money Massachusetts does not have.
Patrick eloquently called last night for more jobs, better education, and increased civic engagement. Who could be against any of those?
The governor's agenda certainly does not lack ambition. He called for action on the languishing energy bill, life sciences, and early childhood education. He wants the Legislature to move on his proposed three casinos. He has previously proposed closing what he says are loopholes in the corporate tax law, while lowering the rate companies pay.
It was the equivalent of an inaugural address, and an impressive one.
But his eloquence seems destined to run headlong into a difficult fiscal reality. The budget he unveiled on Wednesday is, conservatively, $300 million out of balance, depending as it does on $124 million in casino revenue and $297 million in increased corporate taxes. Any casino bill is months away from passing, and the corporate loopholes haven't been acted on either.
Any governor's budget is, to some extent, a wish list. By the time the House and Senate, respectively, are done tearing it apart and reassembling it, the finished product is always substantially different from the bill submitted by the governor.
This budget though, may only reinforce Patrick's image as a governor who can't say no to anything, an impression reinforced at times by last night's speech.
"Rest assured: We can afford everything we have proposed," Patrick intoned last night. Close a few loopholes here, sell a few casino licenses there, and the math all works. Forgive me for feeling less than assured.
Patrick was elected on a soaring message of hope, and the man is nothing if not committed to it. He spoke last night of "the American story" of realizing the aspirations of the poor, the young, the previously incarcerated. It was hard to argue with any of it.
Returning to one of his familiar themes, he recited his climb from poverty, contrasting his journey with that of his two daughters, children of privilege. He talked about the high cost of doing nothing - a cost we pay in jobs and opportunities lost, infrastructure gone to rot, and dreams dashed. This was the man who was elected a year ago by a stunning margin.
But he isn't a candidate anymore. Last year's agenda mostly foundered. Even though House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi can't stop patting himself on the back, the Legislature did almost nothing.
Though the governor doesn't seem to realize it, even many of his supporters are wondering when his administration will kick into gear. Everyone is wondering when the governor will start governing.
He gently attempted to take on the Legislature last night, portraying himself as "an impatient man" - sick, clearly, of the glacial pace of change in the state. He's right to be impatient, but he has yet to find an effective way to deal with the Legislature's lethargy.
He closed by talking about a trip he took to the Holland School last year, while its Dorchester neighborhood was convulsed with violence.
While he was thinking about what to say to the children he was about to speak to he saw a group of them - children like the child he once was - staring at him through a window. He challenged the Legislature to help them make history.
The governor faces a challenge of his own: the challenge of translating his forceful ideas and personality into meaningful policy.
Patrick has challenged the state's residents to dream of the common good, and that is a powerful message.
However, powerful ideas are just the beginning of governing. It will take more than a good speech to make his dreams come true.
Adrian Walker is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at walker@globe.com. 