The Limits of Speech In a Troubled Presidency

From The Wall Street Journal Online:

The vast powers of the U.S. presidency make it a little silly to question whether the leader in the Oval Office has lost his relevancy. After all, President Bush is going ahead with plans to deploy additional U.S. troops to Iraq in the face of bipartisan resistance in Congress and opposition from a majority of Americans. But his increasing isolation in polls and in Washington does raise the question of just what he can accomplish with tonight's State of the Union address.

Mr. Bush's advisers tell the New York Times his speech will "re-energize" the White House's domestic agenda with its bipartisan and ambitious tone. "The power of the ideas requires people to take notice and take seriously important domestic initiatives," presidential counselor Dan Bartlett argues. But, as The Wall Street Journal says, "Much of the public has stopped listening to him." A new poll from the Journal and NBC News indicates that only 22% of Americans want Mr. Bush to set policy for the country, that just 27% express confidence in his goals, and that only 28% approve how he has handled the war. A new Washington Post-ABC News poll find that "for the first time, majorities of Americans say Bush cannot be trusted in a crisis, has not made the country safer and should withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq to avoid further casualties rather than leave them until civil order is restored," according to the Post. A bigger majority, 65%, now opposes the bigger troop deployment than the 61% margin against it when Mr. Bush announced his policy change Jan. 10, the Post adds.