Confident, diplomatic presentation of plans
WASHINGTON -- Confronted with a unified Democratic opposition and doubters in his own party, President Bush last night laid out his much-anticipated domestic agenda with uncharacteristic gestures of diplomacy. It was a soothing, calming State of the Union speech on the heels of his soaring, sometimes strident inaugural address.
Bush, who prides himself on sketching out big problems and proposing bold solutions, didn't cut back on the scope of his plans, but he presented them with an invitation to negotiate, advertising his own flexibility. On this night, the man who admires Winston Churchill came off a little like Bill Clinton, taking the driver's seat but offering those who don't fully agree with him a chance to help navigate.
Bush has been laying the groundwork for a major overhaul of Social Security as the centerpiece of his second term, and many people in both parties expected him to try to offer a full plan combining cuts in proposed benefits and shifts of some retirement funds into private investments.
The ''crisis is now" rhetoric that marked his discussion of Social Security at his economic summit last month seemed a call to arms. But last night, he softened his words and relied mostly on gentle persuasion, comparing long-term concerns about the solvency of Social Security to parents' worry about college tuition.
Bush strongly extolled the benefits of private retirement accounts, but seemed content to leave the details up to Congress, offering only an exhortation to all to ''join together to strengthen and save Social Security."
''Fixing Social Security permanently will require an open, candid review of the options," Bush said. ''I will work with members of Congress to find the most effective combination of reforms."
The extension of an olive branch was in part a matter of necessity. The new Senate Democratic leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, had vowed that any Bush Social Security proposal that included personal retirement accounts would be opposed by a unified bloc of Democrats. In the House, Bill Thomas, Republican of California, powerful chair of the Ways and Means Committee, had warned that Bush's plan for Social Security would be a ''dead horse" if he didn't make a persuasive case.
As opponents and even some supporters cast doubt about the imminence of a Social Security crisis, they drew parallels to Bush's dire warnings about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The veiled questioning of the president's credibility seemed to work: Polls showed growing numbers of people disputing the idea that the system was in crisis.
The president seemed to get the message, and his issuing an invitation to the bargaining table, rather than a call to war, will probably eliminate some of the static surrounding the issue. Still, members of Congress may not appreciate having to wrestle with calls for cuts in promised benefits, raising the retirement age, and other unpopular ideas.
In other areas, too, Bush sought to take the edge off partisan issues. He sidestepped the volatile issue of embryonic stem-cell research, which utilizes embryos discarded during fertility treatments, by focusing on his much less controversial pledge to prevent embryos from being created solely for scientific research.
On the standoff over Bush's most conservative judicial appointees, some of whom are being blocked by a Democratic filibuster, the president merely said he believes every nominee has the right to an up-or-down vote.
And there was no incendiary ''Axis of Evil"-type rhetoric on foreign policy.
''The United States has no right, no desire, and no intention to impose our form of government on anyone else," the president said. ''That is one of the main differences between us and our enemies. They seek to impose and expand an empire of oppression . . . Our aim is to build and preserve a community of free and independent nations, with governments that answer to their citizens and reflect their own cultures."
The success of the Iraqi elections this week seemed to put Bush in a less contentious mood on the issue that has most riled his presidency: the fight against the Iraqi insurgency. Bush celebrated the impressive first steps of the Iraqi democracy and credited the members of the US military for making those steps possible.
His optimism was punctuated by a long, emotional hug between the mother of a US Marine killed in Iraq and the daughter of an Iraqi killed under Saddam Hussein's regime -- both sitting in the audience near Laura Bush.
For a nation that, in reelecting the president by a close margin last year, seemed respectful of Bush's efforts on national security and cautiously optimistic on his domestic policies, the promise of the same course pursued in a quieter tone is probably welcome.
Whether out of awareness of coming challenges in Congress or of existing ones abroad, Bush seemed more generous last night than in a long time. And his generosity did not suggest weakness, but rather a new confidence in himself and the force of his ideas. 