This clearly wasn’t Bush’s best speech. If this was supposed to be the kick-off for Karl Rove’s campaign strategy, I’m not exactly intimidated.
I remember reading a Joe Klein account a couple of years ago about Newt Gingrich’s reaction, as Speaker of the House, to one of Bill Clinton’s State of the Union addresses: “We’re dead. There’s no way we’re going to beat this guy.” Watching last night, I definitely did not have that kind of reaction.
Random reaction from my cluttered notes:
* I was almost as intrigued by what Bush didn’t say as what he did say. Going over the transcript, I couldn’t found a single reference to Osama bin Laden (you remember, the guy who orchestrated the murders of 3,000 Americans), the highly-touted missions to Mars and the Moon, the “ownership society” that was supposed to be the theme of this year’s governing philosophy from the administration, nor any of the White House’s alleged environmental proposals.
* Bush was cockier than usual. He smirked constantly, which was equal parts distracting and annoying.
* In talking about the war in Iraq, Bush seemed a little defensive. “I know that some people question if America is really in a war at all”; “Some in this chamber and in our country did not support the liberation of Iraq”; “Some critics have said our duties in Iraq must be internationalized”; “We also hear doubts that democracy is a realistic goal for the greater Middle East”; and so on. These constant references suggest to me that the White House is concerned that Democratic arguments against the war have been persuasive and Bush feels the need to rebut them.
* I have no idea why Bush emphasized steroids in pro sports so much. When he said, “[G]et rid of steroids now,” he spoke with the volume and passion usually reserved for terrorists. He devoted 66 words to steroids, but nine words to nuclear proliferation in North Korea. I’d say his priorities are entirely out of whack, but then again, I’m just one of those wacky people who’s more concerned about a madman with nuclear weapons than I am a baseball player looking for an illegal edge over the competition.
* The line about WMD was hilarious for two reasons. Bush said, “[T]he Kay report identified dozens of weapons of mass destruction-related program activities and significant amounts of equipment that Iraq concealed from the United Nations.” First, the Kay report actually concluded that Iraq had no WMD. Second, what in the hell are “weapons of mass destruction-related program activities“?
* I also loved it when Bush said, “For diplomacy to be effective, words must be credible and no one can now doubt the word of America.” To which I was thinking, “Unless we’re talking about Iraq and weapons of mass destruction, in which we have no credibility and everyone doubts the word of America.”
* Why did the line about community colleges get so much applause? Was it because it was the only substantive comment about education policy in the entire speech?
* Bush last night: “We’re tracking Al Qaeda around the world, and nearly two- thirds of their known leaders have now been captured or killed.” Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld three months ago: The U.S. is having “mixed results with Al Qaeda ” and has not “yet made truly bold moves” in fighting Al Qaeda.
* Bush seemed really concerned about the expiration of his beloved tax cuts for the wealthy. “Unless you act, Americans face a tax increase. What the Congress has given, the Congress should not take away. For the sake of job growth, the tax cuts you passed should be permanent.” Right, who were the morons who created this system so that the tax cuts would expire after 10 years? Now I remember, it was the White House that intentionally shaped the tax cuts to phase in and out over several years so as to disguise the actual size of the overall cost and mislead the country.
* There was only one reference to the largest deficit in U.S. history, with Bush insisting that “we can cut the deficit in half over the next five years.” Too bad he’s lying about this too.
* There was also only one reference to chronic unemployment, with Bush making a passing reference: “Jobs are on the rise.” Actually, they’re not.
* And lastly, I got the impression that Bush must be really concerned with shoring up his support on the far right wing of the GOP, because he gave them an awful lot to be happy about in this speech. Bush emphasized many of their favorite ideas: federally funded abstinence programs, drug testing in public schools, tort reform, criticism of “activist judges,” aid for “faith-based” groups, and of course, a strangely-worded endorsement of a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. If the SOTU speech was a blueprint of the campaign the White House is going to run, we can expect a far more unabashed conservative candidate in 2004 than we saw in 2000.
This was not an accident. As the New York Times noted today, the White House was so excited about all the right-wing red meat in the speech that Karl Rove “telephoned social conservative groups on Tuesday to make sure they would be watching the speech.”