Bush to Convey Optimism in Speech

One key focus of the State of the Union address -- timed at less than 40 minutes in practice sessions without interruptions for applause -- is expected to be a proposal to expand health care savings accounts, a favorite theme of past Bush speeches.

After the address, Bush plans to hit the road for a campaign-style series of appearances to promote four initiatives, as yet unspecified. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the "four major policy speeches" planned for February will begin with appearances in Nashville tomorrow and Maplewood, Minn., on Thursday. Tennessee and Minnesota are expected to have hotly contested races for open Senate seats in the November elections.

The latest opinion polls offer the administration little comfort, with most showing that majorities of Americans disapprove of the way Bush is doing his job. A Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted last week put Bush's approval rating at 42 percent, with 56 percent disapproving of his performance. Several polls conducted this month also showed that only about a third of Americans believe the country is headed in the right direction under Bush's leadership.

Making the rounds of the morning television news programs, presidential counselor Dan Bartlett acknowledged public anxiety about various "challenges" facing the nation. But he said Bush would put forward an "optimistic" agenda that would demonstrate leadership in dealing with the problems.

"No question there are challenges, and he'll address those challenges," Bartlett said on CBS. "But I think what the public wants to see in their president is not somebody who looks at the challenges and becomes pessimistic but sees the opportunities and the potential that we have."

Interviewed on MSNBC, Bartlett said, "Americans are anxious about the fact that the rising gas prices and rising health care costs and the rising competition of global competitors like China and India can lead to anxious times." In Iraq, "there are real accomplishments being made," despite "very difficult fighting," he said. "Some of the best that America has to offer have paid the ultimate sacrifice in this war. But it is necessary."

Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), the Senate majority leader, said on NBC's "Today" show that he disagrees with one aspect of the budget-cutting plans that are expected to figure in Bush's speech: proposals to trim the National Guard and Army Reserves by a total of about 34,000 soldiers.

"I am opposed to cutting the Guard," Frist said, although "I do want to look at the overall spending plan."

Bush said yesterday that he was "upbeat" about America's future and would tell the nation tonight that "we've got a lot to be proud of." He also said he would call for "a good, honest dialogue" between Congress and the executive branch, adding, "I'll do my best to elevate the tone here in Washington, D.C. so we can work together to achieve big things for the American people."

That drew a skeptical response today from the Senate minority leader, Sen. Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), who noted that Bush came into office promising to improve the tone of political discourse.

"I hope the president, in his State of the Union, will really try to do what he said he's going to do for five years," Reid said on CNN. "That is, be a uniter, not a divider. It's almost Orwellian. Everything that he's done is just the opposite of what he has said."

Reid said later in a statement that Bush's "call for greater bipartisanship and civility would be more credible if his previous words on the subject had been followed by action." Despite Bush's "talk of bipartisan good government," Reid said, "he and his administration have kept up a permanent campaign of partisan attacks."

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) criticized Bush's approach to one of his State of the Union themes: health care reform.

"This president hasn't really paid attention to the health care crisis for the last five years," Kennedy said on CBS, citing high numbers of uninsured people. "We don't want gimmicks, we want something of substance. And if we're just going to talk about health savings accounts, if we're just going to talk about association plans and increasing deductibility, those are gimmicks."

Kaine, the new Virginia governor, said on MSNBC that Bush has talked about health care reform before, "and what we've seen is the number of uninsured people grow by 6 million" since he took office. "We've seen health care costs skyrocket. We've seen energy prices skyrocket."

The designated Democratic responder charged that "what we see with the administration is too much partisanship, too much negativity and poor management."