From Hero to Goat

Brian Braiker writes for Newsweek that "the latest Newsweek poll finds that Bush's call for a 'surge' in troops is opposed by two-thirds (68 percent) of Americans and supported by only a quarter (26 percent). Almost half of all respondents (46 percent) want to see American troops pulled out 'as soon as possible.'

"Bush's Iraq plan isn't doing anything for his personal approval rating either; it's again stuck at its lowest point in the history of the poll (31 percent)."

The Expectations Game

Thomas M. DeFrank writes in the New York Daily News: "White House political aides always try to lower expectations for a State of the Union address. That won't be hard this year. . . .

"'It's not a pretty political picture,' one of Bush's closest confidants acknowledged last week, 'and we all know it, including him.'

"The task facing Bush is even more daunting because aides know a significant portion of his speech must reinforce the single issue that has hastened his political demise: the war in Iraq. . . .

"Bush is described by friends as realistic about his diminished clout but doggedly resolute. 'As a general matter,' said a top Republican source who talks with the White House regularly, 'everyone's pretty much down in the dumps over there, but trying to take the high ground and begin a serious dialogue with the Democrats to get something accomplished.'"

The Atmosphere

Ken Herman writes for Cox News Service: "Seated behind Bush and next to Vice President Dick Cheney, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be an on-camera symbol of the challenge ahead for the president."

Karen Tumutly and Massimo Calabresi write for Time: "As George Bush takes the lectern in the House chamber for his State of the Union address, he can finally claim that he is fulfilling the promise of his 2000 presidential campaign to be a uniter and not a divider. With his proposal to increase the number of U.S. troops in Iraq, Bush is indeed bringing Democrats and Republicans together. The problem for him is that the bipartisan front they are forming is against him. It has the potential to lead to the most serious foreign policy confrontation between a President and Congress since the Vietnam War."

The Agenda

Gerald F. Seib writes in the Wall Street Journal that the speech will have "more focus on fewer items that have some actual chance of success, and less focus on a wish list of items dear to the president but with little chance of bipartisan support. So you'll hear plenty about balancing the budget, but more interesting is how energy and immigration come into play. White House officials have been signaling that the president plans to aggressively pursue what everyone in Washington euphemistically calls 'energy independence.' That means reducing America's need for foreign oil. . . .

"Immigration may be the only issue where the change of power on Capitol Hill has brought Congress closer to the president, not farther away."

Energy

Rick Klein writes in the Boston Globe: "In previewing the State of the Union address the president will deliver tomorrow, administration officials have strongly hinted that Bush would outline steps the government will take to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, which most scientists believe contribute to global warming.

"The White House has refused to discuss details in advance of the president's speech, though many in Congress and the energy industry expect it to include raising fuel-economy standards for automobiles, more support for renewable energy sources, and efforts to control emissions at utility plants and other big polluters.