No Sale....More on the SOTUS

What Bush needed to do with the SOTUS was get his approval rating up so he wouldn't drag the Republicans down in November. Instead he gave a speech with no substance that won't help anyone but the Democrats. The media seems to agree, we have these from the Washington Post.
Bush Warns Against Shrinking Global Role

The competing visions set the stage for a contentious year heading into congressional elections this fall as polls suggest that many Americans have soured on Bush's leadership. With mounting casualties in Iraq, high gasoline prices at home, scandals in Washington and slow progress toward recovery in the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast region, Bush came into the speech with the support of 42 percent in the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll, eight percentage points below his level of a year ago.

Lowered Expectations Reflect Political and Fiscal Realities

Coming off his most difficult year in office, President Bush used his State of the Union address last night to try to give his embattled administration a new start, speaking expansively about his aspirations for the final years of his presidency -- but offering a scaled-down blueprint for governing.

Bush begins this election year far weaker than he was a year ago. The most telling evidence came on domestic policy. Last year, he used his State of the Union address to launch an ambitious plan to restructure Social Security. This year, with that plan not even coming to a vote in the House or Senate, he called simply for a new commission to examine the impact of baby-boom retirees on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Instead, Bush put his domestic focus on the economy, health care and energy, problems of far more immediate concern to voters than the future of the government's retirement insurance program. If he hoped in 2005 to show he was grappling with issues of the future, last night he sought to reassure Americans that he understands why so many of them are unhappy with the direction of the country.

Not even Bush cheerleaders like Elisabeth Bumiller and Adam Nagourney could get very excited.

The speech was notable for what Mr. Bush did not mention. He offered no new ideas for rebuilding New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, made no mention of his troubled Medicare prescription drug program and offered no proposal to clamp down on lobbying abuses in Congress that have led to the investigation of Jack Abramoff, a formerly powerful lobbyist and a major fund-raiser for Mr. Bush. Mr. Abramoff pleaded guilty on Jan. 3 to conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion, and prosecutors have said he used campaign contributions, lavish trips and meals to influence lawmakers and their aides.

His sudden realization that the US is addicted to oil was nonsensical. John Cole's take on the energy portion of the speech;

I can’t be the only one who just doesn’t believe Bush is serious about oil independence, and, even if he were, I don’t trust this crew to get it right. A couple months from now we will probably find out the Advanced Energy Initiative is a series of tax cuts to energy providers and a proposal to drill in ANWR.

I think the speech was an indication of just how politically bankrupt Bush is. He couldn't propose anything sweeping because 2005 should us that it would be a non starter. The Republicans now have to realize that Bush won't help them in November and they have to be hoping the Democrats will blow it. Unfortunately a real possibility.