2008 Woodie Awards
Vintage Bush
Arianne Rasmussen
Issue date: 2/9/06 Section: News
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As with previous addresses, the message evoked mixed feelings from an extremely divided country in regards to Bush's future plans regarding both foreign and domestic affairs.
Most of the speech was spent emphasizing the country's need to stay away from isolationism by continuing to promote democracy in foreign places.
Alternatives to oil dependence, Iran's nuclear development, the terrorist surveillance program, social security, healthcare, education, tax cuts and the country's deficit made up the smaller remaining portion of the speech and the Katrina catastrophe was mentioned only in passing.
"This time, there certainly seemed to have more emphasis on alternative sources of fuel. He also had a more forceful statement about nuclear development in Iran, but other than that, the war on terror, the theme of leadership and of never backing down until the mission is over - that's vintage Bush. I felt that it was consistent with previous State of the Union deliveries - like a continuation," said Dr. Gary Rose, Republican, professor and chair of the Department of Government and Politics.
"Bush still covers the same things he always has and still stays away from things that will hurt him. The guy has no way out of some of the issues. You can't address a negative subject with a positive spin so he stays away from them," said sophomore Adam Rua of Bridgeport, Independent, when considering Bush's brief mention of the Katrina disaster.
"Katrina and the needs of the people of New Orleans and Louisiana and the Gulf Coastas a whole , they were really almost nonexistent for the most part in the speech. He did not mention it enough which is unfortunate. Katrina was a national catastrophe and it should've been addressed in more depth and I can imagine that the people who have been dislocated as a result of that have felt forgotten to some extent," said Dr. Rose.
Yet, despite the consistency of themes and the lack of addressing some issues, Rua and sophomore Afrim Mustafa of Bridgeport believe that this was one of Bush's best speeches.
"Looking back at his other state of the union addresses, I thought that the 2006 was his best, but then again, his speech writers couldn't afford anything less considering the fact that his ratings are at their lowest," said Mustafa, Democrat.