Will Anyone Be Listening To The State Of The Union?
For years, President Bush and his advisers expressed frustration that the White House received little credit for the nation's strong economic performance because of public discontent about the Iraq war. Today, the president is getting little credit for improved security in Iraq, as the public increasingly focuses on a struggling U.S. economy.
That is the problem Bush faces as he prepares to deliver his seventh and probably final State of the Union address Monday night. For the first time in four years, he will come before Congress able to report some progress in tamping down violence in Iraq. Yet the public appears to have moved on from the war -- and possibly from Bush himself.
The economy has supplanted Iraq as the top public concern, and with voters shifting their focus toward the presidential primaries, Bush faces a steep challenge in persuading Americans to heed his words on the war, economic policy or any other issue, according to administration officials, lawmakers and outside observers.
"Very large segments of the American people have written him off already and have moved on to the next chapter," said Jeremy Rosner, a Clinton White House aide and Democratic pollster. Even some of the Republican presidential candidates appear eager to distance themselves from the president.
White House officials and their allies argue that the turmoil in the nation's housing and financial markets provides Bush a new opportunity to lead, especially given his newfound alliance on an economic stimulus plan with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who will be sitting behind the president in the House chamber Monday night.
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Washington Post | Michael Abromowitz | January 27, 2008 11:54 PM