Bush to paint rosy picture on Iraq and economy

WASHINGTON - President George Bush's State of the Union speech will stress his optimistic vision for Iraq and the US economy in a strategy aimed at giving Republicans a potential road map to victory in November and boosting his own weakened standing.

Sweeping proposals along the lines of his big Social Security revamp -- which fizzled after its high-profile roll-out a year ago -- were not expected in the annual speech on Tuesday night (Wednesday afternoon NZ time) before millions watching on television.

Bush goes into the speech burdened by a stubbornly low job approval rating of about 43 per cent, reflecting disapproval of his handling of the Iraq war and soaring petrol prices.

The White House called the speech "thematic in nature".

"The president will have some new policies that he will talk about that will reflect the priorities that the American people care most about, but this is more of a visionary and directional speech than it is a laundry list of proposals," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

Aides described the speech as optimistic in tone, saying he will argue as he has in many recent speeches that progress is being made in Iraq, and that the fundamentals of the US economy are sound despite an anaemic annual growth rate of 1.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2005.

Tehran

Bush is also expected to touch on Iran amid US attempts to rein in Tehran's nuclear programme. He is likely to argue anew that a US surveillance programme aimed at possible al Qaeda links to and from the United States is legal despite Democratic charges it amounts to unlawful domestic spying.

Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican, and Barack Obama, an Illinois Democrat, voiced the sentiment of many in Congress on Sunday by telling ABC television that Bush needs to work with lawmakers on the surveillance programme.

"If he needs more authority, he just can't unilaterally decide that that 1978 law is out," Hagel said.

"He needs to come back, work with us, work with the courts if he has to, and we will do what we need to do to protect the civil liberties of this country and the national security of this country."

Appearing on Fox News, Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean said, "People really don't believe Bush any more and that's a real problem for him."

"Americans think the state of the union is a pretty difficult state right now."

Mike Pence, an Indiana Republican, told Fox, he expected Bush would return to Republican basics in the speech -- "limited government, fiscal discipline, strong defence and a commitment to traditional values".

Domestically, Bush is expected to focus on a package of initiatives to rein in the soaring cost of US health care by expanding the use of tax-preferred savings accounts and giving tax breaks to Americans without employer-provided health insurance so they can purchase health plans on their own.

The initiatives will build on some measures already enacted by Congress. Bush may also revive some past proposals including a push to rein in malpractice insurance lawsuits.

Bush's challenge is to outline a plan that Republicans who control Congress can use to try to avoid what has been the historical norm -- the party in power loses seats in midterm elections, election years in which a president is not chosen.

"I'm expecting the reframing of priorities and outlining of goals that can be accomplished early in the year to give Republicans a platform to run on," said Republican strategist Scott Reed.

"Most people have made up their minds about him one way or the other, but there's still a persuadable group in the middle who can be convinced that he's doing a good job, who are not at this point convinced," said Republican pollster Whit Ayres.

Political experts said Bush's challenge is to set the tone for the campaign year. Typically, Republican candidates would be largely in lock-step with their leader. But given Bush's weakened position, this year they will choose whether they want to latch on to his agenda or go off on their own.

Democrats eager to regain control of either the House of Representatives, the Senate or both were not waiting to hear the speech before criticising him for a "growing credibility problem" manifested by an influence-peddling probe involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff, a major Republican fund-raiser.

"In his speech, the president needs to tell the American people what he is going to do to end the culture of corruption and lay out solutions that will make America strong," said Senate minority leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat.

- REUTERS