Bush speech comes amid high public anxiety over war, economy

In the eighth and final year of George W. Bush’s Presidency, Americans have stomach-clenching worries about a recession, soaring fuel costs, huge budget deficits, the war in Iraq, fighting in Afghanistan, a showdown with Iran, global terrorism - the list goes on and on.

It is a far different world from the one in which Bush first took the oath of office in January 2001. Then the United States had a budget surplus, its armed forces were not in active combat and the new president’s approval rating stood above 60 percent.

Now, his approval percentage is near the lowest of his presidency, in the low 30s. Bush seldom is mentioned by Republican presidential candidates campaigning to succeed him, but they are nonetheless quick to invoke the memory of President Ronald Reagan.

They make it sound like Reagan was the last Republican president, passing over the terms of both Bush and his father, Reagan’s vice president who followed Reagan in the Oval Office for one term. It seems unlikely the current president’s campaigning help will be much in demand this fall.

“I believe they (Republican candidates) feel that the public has made its judgment on Bush, and that judgment is negative, and it’s not going to change,” said Stephen J. Wayne, a presidential scholar at Georgetown University. “We understand the window that we are in,” White House counselor Ed Gillespie said. “The nominees are going to take the spotlight.”

The two major Democratic contenders - Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton - were in the House chamber to hear Bush’s speech. Republican Sen. John McCain stayed in Florida, where he has been campaigning.

In recent days, Bush has appealed to congressional Democrats, who won a majority in both chambers last year, for support on a $150 billion (euro101.7 billion) plan to provide tax credits and rebates to an estimated 117 million families, along with tax incentives for businesses to invest in new equipment and plants.

Washington, Tuesday, AP