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Once upon a time, the governor's State of the State address marked the highpoint in the legislature's annual Annapolis gathering.

Much of what would be revealed was cloaked in mystery. The governor not only released for the first time his complete legislative agenda but also his entire budget proposal.

Listeners would carefully parse the governor's words and wait anxiously to find out what surprises — pleasant or unpleasant — were about to be announced.

Those days are long forgotten, as Gov. Martin O'Malley proved in his predictable and disappointing speech this week.

Recent governors have abandoned the practice of a massive one-day blitz of state government news that blankets the media. Instead, they dribble out information in small chunks to grab multiple headlines in December and January. It's all about getting maximum PR coverage.

O'Malley delivered his address so late this year that his budget — released two weeks ago — had become ancient history to legislators. His entire legislative program had been introduced earlier, too.

With no news to report, the governor's task was to say something interesting and novel. Instead, he repeated a laundry list of accomplishments in office, skirted Maryland's long-term financial woes and delivered a generic speech more suited to a national than a statewide audience.

In many ways, O'Malley sought to replicate President Obama's rhetoric with words of hope, encouragement and a call for individual responsibility. He spoke of the "Innovation Economy," of helping businesses make new hires, of making the world a better place for future generations.

But there were few specifics, no sense of major forward momentum.

The truth is that state government can do little to end the Great Recession, to create jobs, to curb pollution, to renew prosperity. Those require national solutions. Indeed, the Great Recession will turn into a full-blown recovery only when the private sector — on its own — recognizes that the economic cycle is starting to move upward.

Government's role will be limited — and state government will play a walk-on role.

Nearly all the newly created jobs O'Malley mentioned in his speech are years from happening, and not of his doing. The governor's slim effort to spur job growth in 2010 could lead to hundreds of new hires, not thousands or tens of thousands.

Maryland's biggest jobs generator — the BRAC military realignment — is a federal mandate unaffected by the actions of a state governor. O'Malley crowed about jobs flowing from the state's construction spending — but that happens every year. In fact, this year's capital budget will create fewer jobs than usual because O'Malley is diverting a big chunk of this money to keep nonconstruction programs going.

As for Maryland's "Innovation Economy," state government under O'Malley hasn't put much money into the effort. Indeed, this year's budget reduces the state's already modest spending on science and discovery.

Hard as he tries, O'Malley is never going to be a great speech-giver on grand occasions. He's too dramatic, trying to make his words sound important. He never comes across as fully genuine.

This year's rhetoric didn't mesh with Maryland's problems. All the talk about jobs isn't backed up by massive state budgetary action. Lauding past achievements doesn't directly address today's pressing needs. Calling for government to make "tough choices" rings hollow when O'Malley avoids those very decisions in his proposed budget.

The governor sought to echo presidential sentiment in expressing the need to replace public pessimism with public optimism. But his speech writers stumbled, leaving O'Malley to deliver a quizzical comment about a mysterious "dark thing that has penetrated deep into our collective soul" (pessimism) that he rejects "with every fiber of my being." It came off as overwrought and disconnected.

So did this Bambi-like line: "The rivers, forests, shores and waters of this extraordinary state are ever our allies." Or, this caught-in-a-time-warp sentence: "And with us always are the quiet prayers of gratitude and encouragement of future generations watching."

Message to the governor: Stick to note cards and less formal verbiage. Play to your natural strengths as a speaker, not your weaknesses.

Retired Sen. Mac Mathias' death last week at age 87 is a reminder of the collapse of political effectiveness in Washington's world of hyper-charged partisanship.

Charles McCurdy Mathias Jr. not only was one of the last of the great Republican liberals, he was a man of firm convictions who stood up for what he believed no matter the circumstances, particularly on civil rights for all Americans.

GOP right-wingers called him "liberal swine" for daring to vote his conscience and do what he thought was best for the country. Ideological correctness and winning elections at any cost weren't as important to Mac as remaining true to the Party of Lincoln and its basic, humanitarian principles.

Mathias believed in compromise and working together to achieve results. He wanted to solve problems, not win political points. Voters rewarded him with overwhelming victories. He was down to earth, unassuming and results-oriented.

He'll also be remembered as the "go to" guy on state and local issues. Whenever Baltimore or Maryland officials needed Washington's help on a problem, they called on Mathias to part the Red Sea of bureaucratic and administrative intransigence. He was a practical workhorse who would make things happen, while his Senate colleague for many of those years, Paul Sarbanes, focused most of his intellectual energies on foreign policy and judicial issues.

Mac Mathias was a political gem, a Frederick original. He was both principled and effective in contributing to this nation's advancement. No wonder voters liked him so much. Today's politicians should take note.

Barry Rascovar is a longtime State House columnist. His e-mail address is brascovar@hotmail.com.