United States President George Bush is expected to use the annual State of the Union address on Tuesday night to tackle the perception that he is now a lame-duck president by shifting attention from the carnage in Iraq to domestic issues such as health, energy conservation and immigration. But with record low poll ratings, mainly because of Iraq, and a Democrat-controlled Congress, he faces a challenge to persuade the public that his plans for the year stand any chance of being enacted; in particular, an ambitious health reform plan.
The speech is the centrepiece of the presidential year. But at least one Washington editor dismissed Tuesday night’s as ”the most irrelevant for years” because of Bush’s perceived weakness.
Tony Snow, the White House press spokesperson, on Monday tacitly acknowledged the problem. ”The president is going to offer bold proposals that Congress could, in fact, enact and in the process make Congress look good,” he said. ”He is not going to cease to be bold because people are concerned about the war.”
An AP-AOL poll on the eve of the speech found that 66% of those surveyed agreed Bush was on the wrong track, about the same percentage as last year. Five years ago, 68% said he was on the right track.
A BBC World Service poll of 26 000 people in 25 countries, published on Tuesday, shows little support internationally for the president. Only 29% felt the US exerted a mainly postive influence on the world, down from 36% last year. Strong disapproval was expressed over Bush’s stance on global warming and Iran, while 73% registered unhappiness with his handling of Iraq.
The president, in an interview with USA Today published on Monday, said he would not ignore Iraq in his speech, and would defend his decision a fortnight ago to send an extra 21 500 troops there, but he is expected to place it in the context of his overall ”war on terror”, along with Iran. The US has been stepping up rhetoric against Tehran in the past fortnight.
Bush said he would confront sceptics about his latest Iraq plan in his speech. ”The best way to convince them that this makes sense is to implement it and show them that it works,” he said. He added: ”The war on terror will be a problem for the next president. Presidents after me will be confronting an enemy that would like to strike at the United States again.”
Although he will set out new initiatives, the chances of most of them being enacted are slim. The backing he enjoyed during his first administration, in particular the bipartisan support he had after 9/11, has evaporated. He failed to get through key reforms he set out in his 2005 speech on social security reform and immigration. Of the 12 initiatives in last year’s speech, he can claim success with only three.
The proposals are expected to include an apparently redistributive plan to try to tackle the US’s long-running failure to provide universal health care. In his weekly radio broadcast on Saturday, Bush said he would unveil proposals for tax breaks to encourage the millions who are uninsured to take out health cover, and to increase taxes on those with health schemes costing well above the national average.
Repeated attempts by Bill Clinton’s administration in the 1990s to reform health care foundered because of Republican opposition. Bush will invite the Democrats to cooperate on his reform, an offer they are likely to reject.
As well as proposals on education, social security and immigration, he is expected to make announcements on energy conservation.
The chief executives of 10 major US corporations, including Caterpillar and General Electric, on Monday urged him to support mandatory reductions in climate-changing pollution and establish reduction targets. Bush has so far opposed mandatory action on climate change, arguing that voluntary curbs are sufficient.
Calls to Congress
2002 Branded Iraq, Iran and North Korea ”the axis of evil” and asked Congress to pass a Medicare bill, which it did
2003 Asked Congress for, and got, a $15-billion fund to combat Aids
2004 Proposed to send humans to Mars. Called on Congress to pass an energy Bill, which it did, but rejected a marriage constitutional amendment
2005 Proposed social security reform and guest-worker programme for illegal aliens. Neither happened
2006 Only three of 12 proposals, on the Patriot Act, health savings and medical records, went through – Guardian Unlimited Â