WASHINGTON (REUTERS) — President Bush put the final touches on his State of the Union speech Monday, an address that is expected to prepare Americans for the prospect of war with Iraq and to answer growing doubts about his handling of the U.S. economy.
There was no indication Bush would use the Tuesday night speech, which aides said lasted about 45 minutes when the president practiced it over the weekend, to outline new evidence proving that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.
Instead, Bush was expected to use the 9:01 p.m. EST (0201 GMT Wednesday) speech, which will take place in the House of Representatives chamber before a joint session of Congress, to re-educate Americans on the threat posed by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and to prepare them for the possibility of war.
Aides said the president would not give an ultimatum to Iraq but would repeat that time is running out for Baghdad to comply with a U.N. disarmament resolution. The warning comes even as Democrats appeal for Bush to give U.N. weapons inspections more time.
For the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, when Bush received high marks for his response to the crisis, public-opinion polls are finding that more and more Americans are doubting Bush’s foreign and economic policies, a fact not lost on Democrats hoping to unseat him in 2004.
“Today what we are getting from the White House are confused signals instead of clear direction, slogans instead of solutions, posturing instead of progress,” said Senate minority leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota. “There’s a name for all of this: It’s called a credibility gap.”
Bush would seem to be in a powerful position going into this year’s State of the Union speech, with his Republicans now in command of both houses of Congress after November mid-term elections.
War anxiety erodes Bush approval ratings
But increasing anxiety about war, uneasiness about the U.S. economy and the rising costs of health care are combining to cause some disquiet in public opinion.
A Newsweek poll published Saturday said 38 percent of Americans now say they disapprove of Bush’s job performance, the highest disapproval figure reported in Newsweek polling since Bush took office two years ago. His overall job performance has dipped below 60 percent for the first time since the Sept. 11 attacks.
His $674 billion plan to put a charge into the U.S. economy, which he will promote during the speech, is getting a skeptical response from Americans after Democratic charges that the tax cuts Bush is proposing would benefit the wealthy.
“His challenge is to reclaim the bully pulpit on the Bush agenda and push the Congress into enacting what they can, and the world political leaders into supporting his war on terrorism,” said Scott Reed, a Republican strategist. “Positive poll numbers will lead this charge on both fronts.”
A Pew Research Center poll said the positive ratings of Bush’s job performance on the economy have fallen to 47 percent, down from 60 percent last January. And 61 percent said Bush could be doing more to improve economic conditions.
Analysts said Bush will probably find Americans rallying around the flag if he sends troops to war against Iraq, but that his greater challenge may well be the economy.
“I think his primary problem is to convince the American people that he cares about the problems at home, the economy, and that he’s got a program to do something about it,” said Stephen Hess, a presidential scholar at the Brookings Institution.
Besides Iraq and the U.S. economy, Bush is expected to outline a way to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare, the federal health-insurance program for people over 65 and the disabled.
The idea has been debated for years, with Democrats and Republicans at odds over competing plans, but is of increasing concern to seniors.