The State of the Union Address

As most people probably know, President Bush gave his State of the Union Address last night. As most who know me probably know, I'm not the president's biggest supporter. Last year, I gave Bush a D- grade on his speech, because there wasn't anything new. It was all a rehash of what he had been talking about for the entire year and just about a verbatim reiteration of his previous year's speech.

While I wasn't blown away by the president last night like some Republicans were, I did think it was an improvement from last year's. Why? Bush brought up new topics. For the first time during his tenure, he brought up the issue of global warming. The first half of his speech seemed to be a call out to the new majority in Congress, the Democrats, to work with him like the previous majority, the Republicans, didn't, on issues such as immigration, health care, and energy. He also briefly brought up education and potential of reform in the No Child Left Behind Act. The second half of the speech was directed more toward his base and foundation and was basically a rehash of what has been talked about of late, in regard to the troop surge idea.

It was quite a touching moment when he called out to lead speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, for being the first woman to be in that position of Congress. While, yes, I know it was scripted, he did seem genuine about it. The stories regarding the individuals in the audience to close the speech up were moving, as well.

I overheard some Republicans, most notably, Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanan, rave about the president's renewed confidence at the podium and further exclaimed that it was his best speech since September 20th of 2001. I then overheard the likes of Craig Crawford and others, who are more left-leaning in their political views, state that Bush's confidence is his problem, that he's in a state of denial and a world of his own.

I hate to compromise the situation, but I believe both parties have a point here. When it comes to the War in Iraq and the War on Terror, in general, I believe that Bush is definitely gone from reality. If the real world were to be symbolized by a single person, Bush would not be visible from the naked eye and thensome. But, on the other issues I described above, I do think Bush may be feeling a bit more confidence than he had in the previous couple to few years. While I think Bush may have been disappointed that the Republicans failed to regain the majority of Congress back in November, I think part of him may have secretly been happy. It was an opportunity for him to start over on some levels and hopefully leave the office on a decent note. Let's face it. With the Republican majority, Bush was going nowhere and nowhere fast. They leaned on one another through just about everything and carried one another further down the approval ladder. Just following the news that George Allen had conceded to Jim Webb in Virginia to give the Democrats control of both the House and the Senate, Donald Rumsfeld was let go. I honestly don't believe that would've happened if the Democrats hadn't gained majority in Congress. Now, Bush is actually able to find some hope on the issues of immigration, global warming, education, health care, etc. When he pitched his immigration idea to the Republican majority, they spit it right back out. He has a better chance to pitch his idea and with acceptance to the Democratic majority. He's also more likely to work with the Democrats on the before-mentioned topics than with the Republicans. So, as long as Bush isn't too stubborn these next couple years and actually learns to work with the Democratic majority, he may be able to end on a better note than he would have had the Republicans retained the majority.

His biggest problem right now, though, is the Iraq War. While he may be better off in politicians' and analysts' minds if he works with the Democrats and gets certain bills passed over the next couple years, his approval ratings won't reflect that. So long as the Iraq War is being fought and U.S. troops pay the consequences, Bush's approval ratings will unlikely go above the 40% mark. And if he continues to preach this idea about sending 21,500 more troops in harm's way, his ratings will drop. He also needs to cut it out with the false dillemic jargon that he's used ever since 9/11/01. He used it oh so subtlely last night, but, it was there. He basically made the claim that if you don't support the 21,500 additional troops, then you don't support any of the troops. That's not the case and that's a very divisive line right there. He needs to be very careful about making such claims, especially when he seems to be in the minority of supporting such an idea. Two out of three in the American public disapprove. Many Republican members of the House and the Senate have also shown their concerns. Bush was able to get away with that some when his base and foundation was in the majority, but they're not anymore. So, he has to be careful on how he words such things, or else, his idea will never be given a chance.

While I do agree that Bush's speech last night was superior to that of last year's, I was not blown away in any sense of the word. I feel and hope that he may feel fresh once again, ironically because, he has new people to work with finally, who have a different mind-set and different priorities than their predecessors. From politicians' perspectives, last night (overall) may have been a step in the right direction. But, from the public's eyes, what was said about the Iraq War overshadowed all else that was said and it will continue to until the troops begin coming home.

Grade- C