Missouri Gov. Mike Parson promises ‘sunny days’ at inauguration, but what’s the strategy?

Mike Parson took the oath as Missouri’s 57th governor Monday.

Like most inaugural speeches, Parson’s was broad and short. “Sunny days are ahead,” he said, which may have provided some comfort to the chilly folks in the audience on the Capitol grounds.

The address glimmered with other optimistic notes.

But there is a fine line between hope and delusion, something Parson and lawmakers must keep in mind in the days ahead. Positive thinking is welcome, but it will be no substitute for hard work, good judgment and compromise, which the state has lacked in recent years.

“I will serve all Missourians,” Parson said. Yet he made no mention of the horrible bloodshed that plagued Kansas City and St. Louis in 2020, a crime wave that crested in no small part because the state refused to take commonsense steps to stem the violence.

In 2020, you’ll recall, lawmakers agreed to allow St. Louis police to live outside the city and to establish a witness protection fund so citizens can talk with police. That’s basically it.

Residents in the state’s urban areas have repeatedly asked for autonomy to tackle their unique challenges with violent crime, and every time, they have come up empty in Jefferson City. The governor could do more to move that needle in 2021.

Shockingly, Parson — who did not wear a mask — made no direct mention of COVID-19, which ravaged Missouri in 2020, as it did the rest of the nation. “We have been faced with sacrifices, uncertainty and tragedy,” the governor said, “but with each moment of darkness, there seems to return a tenfold of hope.”

Again: Hope is not a strategy against COVID-19, which has claimed the lives of more than 5,900 Missourians to date. Vaccines, masks, social distancing and testing are. Despite heroic efforts from health care workers, the state’s COVID-19 response fell short in 2020.

Missouri must do better this year.

Parson promised to unite Missourians during their state’s bicentennial year. “I will care for the unborn to the elderly, the rich to the poor,” he said, “regardless of the color of your skin. I see each of you. I want the best for all of you.”

Those are welcome words, of course, but deeds will matter. (Let’s hope Missouri can avoid yet another exhausting battle over abortion rights in the new legislative session.)

Members of the governor’s own party are already conspiring to thwart the will of the people and short-circuit expanded Medicaid, which voters supported at the polls. Parson is in a unique position to make sure that commitment is kept.

Parson takes office at a time of enormous challenge. Last week’s disaster at the U.S. Capitol has further corrupted our political dialogue, making it harder to find common ground anywhere. Missouri, as the governor surely knows, is part of that problem.

So we’d hoped his inaugural speech would include an appeal for calm among Missourians who falsely believe their national government has been hijacked. It did not.

Missouri became a state 200 years ago. It has had great governors, and not-so-great governors. This pivotal year will help determine which one Mike Parson will be remembered as.