Teddy Roosevelt, political progenitor of the Taft dynasty, used to say, "Speak softly and carry a big stick." Ohio Gov. Bob Taft has many degrees of separation from TR, but he seems to have hung on to the stick.

In his State of the State speech Wednesday, the governor asserted himself with the absolute sureness of a politician who is serving his last term. He told the assembled legislators that they can do what he wants - tax cigarettes, booze and lawyers, cut Medicaid and stand up to the nursing homes, and start planning for the future - or else.

The "or else" came in the very next paragraph of the speech.

"If my proposal cannot be enacted by the end of February, I will be forced to make cuts to state aid to schools, higher education, PASSPORT and programs that create jobs in our communities." The unspoken postscript was, "And if I have to do that it will be on your heads."

The state is looking at a $720 million deficit for the current fiscal year, hence the deadline pressure the governor laid out Wednesday. The next biennium doesn't look any better. In fact, it could be a whole lot worse.

The easy thing to do would be to whack the heck out of the education budget, pull back on rebuilding the state's schools, let tuition hikes at the state's universities double and redouble. Oh, and hey, that plan for a $500 million bond issue the governor wants to beef up the university system by recruiting scholars and research dollars - the one that could end up creating new industries in Ohio - forget about it. Ditto to the $40 million the governor wants for his "Third Frontier" investments in high-tech businesses.

There are plenty of folks in the General Assembly who will push to do the easy thing. Most of the Democrats will say no to Taft on principle. They point out that they predicted the coming fiscal crisis before the election and got beaten soundly for it. The conservative Republicans, who never met a cut they didn't like, just hate to spend money period. These are the people who treat taxes like illegal drugs. Their motto is "Just Say No," and if the schools are falling down it must be the fault of the students and their neglectful parents.

Many of the rest just don't like the governor telling them what to do. ("Thanks for the suggestions, Bob, now take a seat and we'll decide what stays and what goes.")

That's what happened during the last budget crisis. You can see where that got us.

I haven't always agreed with Bob Taft. He's been a waffler. The Democrats were right last fall when they said we needed more taxes and he ducked when he could have stood up and called for these measures then. He would have lost a few votes, but certainly not the election, and the voters would have known what was coming six months ago.

That said, he is doing the right thing now. So here's my advice, governor: Keep doing it.

Take your message on the road. Conduct the campaign you could've/should've run last year. Tell the people of Ohio that education is the one thing we absolutely cannot afford to cut if we are ever going to outgrow the rustbelt. Ohio needs to do everything it can to improve its university system. We need to attract the brightest students and the most inventive researchers. We need to nurture these brains and the creativity they produce. The "Third Frontier" may be a hokey name, but it's a great notion. These little companies we are supporting may not employ a lot of people today, but they are the new technologies that might grow into the multibillion-dollar industries of tomorrow. We can afford to tax cigarettes and liquor and "service providers" like lawyers and manicurists today. We cannot afford to neglect the future.

This won't be easy for Bob Taft. He is not a "comfortable" campaigner at ease with pitching to the people. The only laugh he got Wednesday was when he made fun of his own less-than-magnetic personality. But this is the campaign he needs to make. He's got nothing to lose now, but the rest of us do.

Contact David Wells at 768-8310; fax: 768-8610; e-mail: dwells@enquirer.com. Cincinnati.Com keyword: Wells.