It’s hard to pinpoint when the concept of the State of the Union address jumped the shark. But a good starting point for discussion would be 1996, when President Bill Clinton devoted considerable time in his long-winded oration to championing uniforms in public schools.

Since then, the events have become rather mundane affairs, often devolving into a monotonous laundry list of various policy proposals sprinkled with a few turns of phrases intended to juice the faithful.

President Donald Trump is a different animal, of course. To some extent, he has reinvigorated the tradition. Love him or hate him, he has an “it” factor that commands attention. Supporters and detractors tune in for the same reason many fans might watch the Daytona 500: Will there be a spectacular spectacle? Meanwhile, his political foes play to the cameras with their heckling and childish disruptions. It’s must-see TV.

Substantively, however, Trump broke little new ground Tuesday — other than to set the modern-day record for the longest speech before a joint session of Congress, at 108 minutes. Trump should realize that brevity is a virtue. Given the country’s limited attention span, how many Americans had the stamina to watch from beginning to end?

As expected, the president emphasized the economy. It was a wise move. Economic indicators are moving in a positive direction — a roaring stock market, reasonable growth, cheaper gasoline prices, lower inflation — yet polls show many Americans are frustrated with the cost of living and worried about the future. Trump’s challenge heading into the midterms is to convince swing voters that his agenda of lower taxes and fewer regulations will create opportunity and wage growth for working Americans. He laid the groundwork Tuesday for such an approach.

“You’ve seen nothing yet,” he promised. “We’re going to do better and better and better. This is the golden age of America.” Trump also wisely pointed out the hypocrisy of Democrats who now bandy about the word “affordability” after they presided over the worst inflation in four decades.

The president emphasized a number of other accomplishments, including regaining control of our southern border and foreign policy successes such as the daring military missions in Venezuela and Iran. He cited American hockey gold medals at the recent Winter Olympics as an example of how sports can instill national pride.

“There is no challenge Americans cannot overcome, no frontier too vast for us to conquer, no dream too bold for us to chase, no horizon too distant for us to claim,” Trump said in closing. How many viewers were still around to hear him?

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