Governor Pataki’s conservative credentials are back on track. Usually his State of the State address runs well over an hour. Yesterday he clocked in at a conservative 54 minutes. Red States take note.

The timing was not an accident. Mr. Pataki worked late into the night trimming down the speech. Limited government, apparently, begins with limiting verbosity.

I remember commenting after the State of the State two years ago, “Governor Pataki managed to speak for 70 minutes and say absolutely nothing new. This really is a remarkable feat when you look at it that way.” This year was new in the way NBC used to advertise re-runs as “New to you” for viewers who missed original episodes.

Like television networks, Mr. Pataki was pitching to a national audience. There’s nothing especially objectionable about the Pataki template that focuses on crime, taxes, the environment, education, respect for the military and resolve to recover from September 11th.

A few months ago, a Pataki aide whispered to me that going after sexual predators is “a good issue.” The governor’s on-message dedication to the topic on display yesterday plays well nationally. So does opposition to marginal tax issues like the estate tax and marriage penalty. Politicians can’t lose talking about charter schools, regardless of whether voters actually know what a charter school is. And bemoaning reliance on foreign oil is a no-brainer with gas prices stuck well above $2 a gallon. Mr. Pataki played it safe and safe is good, especially when conservatively kept to under an hour.

But safe is not comprehensive and safe is not “bold” – a formerly favorite Pataki word that was glaringly absent from his remarks. This year’s buzz-word was “opportunity” – with government possessing the “responsibility” to make opportunities possible. Keeping crime down, cutting taxes, enhancing education and promoting new energy sources are part of Mr. Pataki’s pledge to provide opportunities for New Yorkers.

These broad strokes are the easy part and, if history is any guide, will have little impact on what actually happens over the next six months in Albany as lawmakers set out on their annual lawmaking spree.

To begin with, Mr. Pataki did not mention the state’s $2 billion surplus – even though his office strategically leaked the surplus the day before. The reason is simple: Mr. Pataki will try to use the extra cash for tax cuts and a “rainy day” fund for future emergencies. That’s part of the reason his speech was so short.

But one politician’s final year in office is another politician’s election year, and there’s zero chance that other politician – State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno – will let $2 billion in cash sit still given his fragile majority in the senate. The governor’s fellow Republicans in the legislature will surely want to sprinkle goodies on constituents before they vote in November.

As this year’s transit strike proved, negotiations are more difficult when cash is abundant than when money is tight. Transit workers jealously eyed the MTA’s billion-dollar surplus, and walked off the job after MTA officials refused to share that surplus with them. Three years ago, when the MTA was fudging budget deficits, transit workers actually agreed to a 0% raise during the first year of their contract. When there’s no money there’s not a whole lot to bargain about.

Lawmakers don’t go on strike, but they do stall. And the 212 politicians who face re-election this fall care more about their own futures than about Mr. Pataki’s presidential ambitions. They will surely view the extra $2 billion more as a treasure trove to loot than a windfall to save.

Mr. Pataki will also face pressure on high profile issues from Mayor Bloomberg. By watching helpless as his dreams of a commuter tax and West Side stadium fell flat in Albany, Mr. Bloomberg learned the hard way that winning political battles requires a willingness to fight. He is poised to push hard on both gun control and the World Trade Center site, two topics where Mr. Pataki has a mixed record.

Over the last five years, the governor has been a frequent advocate of gun control and just last month he called a special session of the legislature to enact new gun laws. The governor’s efforts to prevent out-of-state guns from illegally making they way to New York have failed, despite headline-grabbing plans for state troopers to keep guns out of the state.

Even as Mr. Pataki tailors his message to a conservative national audience, Mr. Bloomberg is pressing a new approach that is decidedly not conservative. He is suing gunmakers and distributors for negligently flooding the market with an oversupply of guns. The Republican Congress recently passed a law to stop that suit, but the city recently convinced a federal judge the law has a loophole, and the case is back on track.

Mr. Bloomberg is also flexing his political might at the World Trade Center site, calling for apartments instead of the office buildings Mr. Pataki has so far talked up.

Notably, none of this begins to address the political mess Mr. Pataki faces within his Republican Party. George Pataki’s State of the State Address was a reliable barometer of his mood and motives, but has little bearing on what he’ll be forced to contend with as he winds down being governor and winds up for a longshot run toward the White House.

Mr. Goldin’s political column appears weekly.