What to Expect from the State of the Union

George W. Bush is heading into the worst two years of his presidency, and fortunately for the country, the last two years. Opinion polls have him at the lowest point ever for him, only a 28 percent approval in the CBS poll, for example. Perhaps even worse, strong disapproval from 51 percent of those polled is three times the number of strong supporters, 17 percent.

Most of this is related to the Iraq war, which he will address in his State of the Union speech under the rubric of "The War on Terror," hoping against all previous experience, that he can fool some of the people all of the time.

He will try out some new or modified domestic proposals as well...on health care, energy, global warming, and immigration in hopes of changing the subject and giving Congress something to do besides pass resolutions opposing Iraq.

Early returns on those proposals are lukewarm to negative, suggesting that his hopes will founder once again. Bush's war will continue to dominate the headlines as one Republican after another abandons his sinking ship.

— TM