Bush has hits, misses in annual speech

Bush delivered his first one in January 2002, just a few months after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. His second was just months before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. His third in 2004 wrapped the themes of his re-election campaign. Last year's was the first State of the Union since the terror attacks that Bush focused most heavily on domestic issues.

This year, Bush is delivering his speech amid lukewarm job approval ratings, upcoming midterm elections, anxiety over continuing U.S. troop deaths in Iraq, skepticism about the legality of an eavesdropping program to foil terrorists and a lobbying scandal that that threatens members of his own party on Capitol Hill.

On the plus side, Bush's second Supreme Court nominee, Samuel Alito, appears headed for confirmation before Bush makes his address Tuesday night, economic news is bright and millions of Iraqis voted in December parliamentary elections, although sectarian conflict is threatening to disrupt the formation of a new government.

Bush will be hard-pressed to repeat the success of his first address in 2002. Buoyed by national unity that followed Sept. 11, Bush received boisterous applause from Democrats and Republicans alike. His public job approval rating at the time exceeded 80 percent.

"All he had to do in 2002 was say `We're going to do something,' and everyone was going to cheer," said Wayne Fields, director of American culture studies at Washington University in St. Louis and a specialist on presidential rhetoric. "It really didn't matter much what it was."

•	Bush Has Hits, Misses in Annual Speech CBS News online, Friday, Jan. 27, 2006 Byline: Associated Press

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