Speaking of the State of the Union, Bush appears to have missed a key opportunity Tuesday night.
Presidents usually use the SOTU, particularly in an election year, to lay out a popular agenda that puts the opposition on the defensive and strikes a chord with the public. Bush appears to have done the opposite this week, using the spotlight to emphasize controversial domestic initiatives (such as the divisive Patriot Act), bizarre non-governmental priorities (such as steroids in pro sports), and tout items from the far right-wing’s policy wish list, including federally funded abstinence programs, drug testing in public schools, privatization of Social Security, tort reform, criticism of “activist judges,” aid for “faith-based” groups, and a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.
If the White House was hoping to reach out to moderates and swing voters, this wasn’t the way to do it.
In fact, a CNN poll conducted after the speech showed very thin support for the agenda Bush laid out in the address. While these speeches traditionally draw favorable reviews from the public, this year’s was a dud.
The CNN poll showed that only 45% of the public that saw the speech had a “very positive” reaction to it. This may not sound that bad, but this number was 50% in 2003, 74% in 2002, and 66% in 2001.
And almost as importantly, the television ratings for the speech were poor.
The Washington Post’s Lisa de Moraes noted today that 43 million viewers tuned in to see Bush on Tuesday across four broadcast networks and four cable news networks — about 20 million fewer viewers than last year’s State of the Union.
Considering the general reaction to the speech, I guess Bush was lucky more people didn’t tune in.